Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 234,771 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 2,995 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.08% of Hess worth $31,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Hess by 58.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. HBK Investments L P raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $966,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $450,696,000 after acquiring an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in Hess during the 3rd quarter valued at about $75,126,000. Finally, ING Groep NV lifted its stake in Hess by 267.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 533,264 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $72,417,000 after purchasing an additional 388,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE HES traded up $0.63 during trading on Monday, reaching $148.74. 1,534,800 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,935,669. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month 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 $45.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.17. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $141.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $139.33.

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 (EPS) 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 forecast that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Hess's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HES has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. UBS Group upped 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. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Hess in a research report on Saturday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.60.

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.