Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by DLD Asset Management LP

DLD Asset Management LP lowered its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 12.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,389 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 3,453 shares during the period. Hess makes up approximately 0.4% of DLD Asset Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. DLD Asset Management LP's holdings in Hess were worth $3,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in shares of Hess by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares in the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HES. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup increased their price target on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.60.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE HES traded down $14.49 on Friday, hitting $133.89. The company had a trading volume of 3,995,195 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,873,512. The company has a market capitalization of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 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's fifty day moving average price is $148.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $142.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. As a group, analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

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.