Norges Bank Buys New Stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 673,692 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $21,572,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 0.68% of Helmerich & Payne as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,182,972 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $127,246,000 after purchasing an additional 34,395 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,686,215 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $86,013,000 after acquiring an additional 801,000 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,658,356 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $85,121,000 after acquiring an additional 327,374 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,247,214 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $68,373,000 after acquiring an additional 22,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,557,931 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $49,885,000 after purchasing an additional 53,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company's stock.

Helmerich & Payne Trading Up 4.1 %

NYSE HP traded up $0.76 on Friday, reaching $19.18. The stock had a trading volume of 2,071,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,504,470. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.82 and a 12-month high of $43.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $25.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 2.52, a current ratio of 2.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 11.02%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.21%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. Helmerich & Payne's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Belgacem Chariag bought 37,356 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.08 per share, with a total value of $1,011,600.48. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 54,606 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,730.48. This trade represents a 216.56 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay purchased 20,000 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.55 per share, for a total transaction of $551,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 691,214 shares in the company, valued at $19,042,945.70. This represents a 2.98 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "underweight" rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Helmerich & Payne to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $34.22.

About Helmerich & Payne

Founded in 1920, Helmerich & Payne, Inc (H&P) NYSE: HP is committed to delivering industry leading levels of drilling productivity and reliability. H&P operates with the highest level of integrity, safety and innovation to deliver superior results for its customers and returns for shareholders.