Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 22,225 Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. reduced its holdings in Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK - Free Report) by 9.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 202,143 shares of the company's stock after selling 22,225 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Chesapeake Energy worth $16,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 233.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,059,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $804,769,000 after purchasing an additional 6,338,963 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,317,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $332,221,000 after purchasing an additional 213,235 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 13.4% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 2,599,352 shares of the company's stock valued at $230,900,000 after purchasing an additional 307,814 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,958,837 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,723,000 after purchasing an additional 265,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Co. lifted its position in Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 824,782 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,459,000 after purchasing an additional 58,253 shares during the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHK. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $101.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a report on Thursday, June 27th. They set a "sector weight" rating on the stock. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $110.00 to $105.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Chesapeake Energy to a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.17.

Chesapeake Energy Price Performance

NASDAQ:CHK traded down $0.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $72.37. 1,095,689 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,882,251. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $69.42 and a 12 month high of $93.58. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.19 and a 200 day moving average of $83.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.33, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The stock has a market cap of $9.48 billion, a PE ratio of 9.75 and a beta of 0.47.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 29th. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.02 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $505.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $822.54 million. Chesapeake Energy had a return on equity of 4.00% and a net margin of 8.68%. The firm's revenue was down 73.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Chesapeake Energy Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 5th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a $0.575 dividend. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.18%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Chesapeake Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.00%.

Chesapeake Energy Profile

Chesapeake Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It engages in acquisition, exploration, and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs. The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.