Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) is Highbridge Capital Management LLC's 5th Largest Position

Highbridge Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 28.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 579,445 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 128,146 shares during the quarter. Hess accounts for 3.0% of Highbridge Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Highbridge Capital Management LLC owned 0.19% of Hess worth $77,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,117,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,274,000. Czech National Bank boosted its stake in Hess by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $7,971,000 after purchasing an additional 3,625 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Hess by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $244,483,000 after purchasing an additional 82,703 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Hess by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,085 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on HES shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup increased their price target on 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 boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners raised Hess to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. They issued 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE:HES traded up $0.43 on Tuesday, reaching $160.16. 653,067 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,855,645. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $147.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $142.23. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $49.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 1.21.

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 for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Hess's payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.

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.