Cohen Klingenstein LLC Trims Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC cut its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 96,528 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 16,150 shares during the period. Cohen Klingenstein LLC's holdings in Hess were worth $12,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of HES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Hess during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $6,054,000. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,971,000 after buying an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Hess by 20.8% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,213,574 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $169,767,000 after acquiring an additional 208,996 shares during the period. Maverick Capital Ltd. purchased a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter worth $1,052,000. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC grew its stake in Hess by 295.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 84,277 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $11,445,000 after purchasing an additional 62,966 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:HES traded up $1.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $151.33. 2,817,141 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,481,418. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $46.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $140.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.51. 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, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess's payout ratio is 23.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 92,894 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.80, for a total transaction of $13,729,733.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 229,465 shares in the company, valued at $33,914,927. The trade was a 28.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Hess from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.50.

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.