Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by ClearAlpha Technologies LP

ClearAlpha Technologies LP trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 16.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,348 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 10,367 shares during the quarter. Hess accounts for 4.8% of ClearAlpha Technologies LP's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. ClearAlpha Technologies LP's holdings in Hess were worth $6,963,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Hess by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 51,635 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,868,000 after buying an additional 12,274 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in shares of Hess by 29.1% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,726 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,427,000 after acquiring an additional 2,418 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 81,168 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $10,796,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the last quarter. Natixis boosted its position in Hess by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Natixis now owns 131,582 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $17,502,000 after purchasing an additional 4,276 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norinchukin Bank The grew its stake in Hess by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Norinchukin Bank The now owns 15,159 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,391 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Saturday, April 19th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $164.46.

Hess Trading Up 0.0 %

Hess stock traded up $0.05 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $132.43. 1,097,230 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,882,776. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71 and a beta of 0.88. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $143.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.00. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess's payout ratio is 22.22%.

Hess Profile

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.