Park Avenue Securities LLC Purchases 5,288 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Park Avenue Securities LLC increased its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 169.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,408 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,288 shares during the quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Hess were worth $1,118,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. HBK Investments L P lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 16.7% during 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. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $884,709,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 valued at $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Hess by 31.0% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $450,696,000 after buying an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Hess by 6.6% during 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 buying an additional 150,945 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Trading Down 1.7 %

HES traded down $2.59 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $148.76. 1,232,803 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,843,573. The company's fifty day moving average price is $140.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $139.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.37 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.64 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.49 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess's payout ratio is 23.31%.

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.