Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Advisors Capital Management LLC

Advisors Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,194 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 3,869 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in Hess were worth $1,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in HES. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Hess by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,408,117,000 after purchasing an additional 296,406 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Hess by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $888,240,000 after purchasing an additional 158,371 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $511,325,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Hess by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,498,458 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $465,330,000 after acquiring an additional 179,636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $389,787,000 after purchasing an additional 927,093 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on HES. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $166.26.

Hess Stock Performance

HES traded up $2.61 on Friday, reaching $130.56. The stock had a trading volume of 1,091,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,892,303. The company has a market cap of $40.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.51 and a beta of 0.88. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The business's 50-day moving average price is $145.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.31.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Hess's payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

About Hess

Hess Corporation, an exploration and production company, explores, develops, produces, purchases, transports, and sells crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas. The company operates in two segments, Exploration and Production, and Midstream. It conducts production operations primarily in the United States, Guyana, the Malaysia/Thailand Joint Development Area, and Malaysia; and exploration activities principally offshore Guyana, the U.S.