Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Drive Wealth Management LLC

Drive Wealth Management LLC trimmed its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,003 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 worth $509,675,000 after buying an additional 1,391,311 shares in the last quarter. HBK Investments L P grew its stake in Hess by 16.7% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in 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 valued at $450,696,000 after acquiring an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $75,126,000. Finally, ING Groep NV grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 388,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HES has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.50.

Hess Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of HES stock opened at $144.32 on Monday. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $141.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.48. The stock has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.