Oak Thistle LLC Purchases Shares of 3,697 Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Oak Thistle LLC bought a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,697 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $492,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HES. HBK Investments L P grew its position in Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $884,709,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Hess by 31.0% during the third 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 period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in Hess by 6.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,451,807 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $361,691,000 after purchasing an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock traded up $1.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.33. 2,817,141 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,907,467. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.55. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.64 earnings per share. Hess's revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given 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 1.32%. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total transaction of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $170.50.

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.