denkapparat Operations GmbH purchased a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,846 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $246,000.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% in 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. HBK Investments L P lifted its position in Hess by 16.7% in the third quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $966,600,000 after buying an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $884,709,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Hess by 58.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 927,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.
Hess Stock Down 0.8 %
Shares of HES traded down $1.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $159.94. 491,520 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,988,159. The company has a market capitalization of $49.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day moving average is $148.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.
Hess Announces Dividend
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.
Insider Activity at Hess
In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm'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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of research firms recently commented on HES. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. They set a "hold" rating for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.60.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on HES
About Hess
(
Free Report)
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.
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