Goelzer Investment Management Inc. Decreases Position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Goelzer Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,276 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 469 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $2,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EOG. DRW Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 98.6% in the 3rd quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 26,838 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $3,299,000 after buying an additional 13,324 shares during the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in EOG Resources by 7.7% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 12,112 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $1,489,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in EOG Resources during the third quarter valued at about $730,000. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 41,274 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $5,059,000 after purchasing an additional 2,311 shares in the last quarter. Finally, University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its position in EOG Resources by 3,976.8% in the second quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 10,885 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $1,370,000 after buying an additional 10,618 shares during the last quarter. 89.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $156.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James raised their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research upgraded EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $147.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, EOG Resources has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at EOG Resources

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value of $483,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. This represents a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,185.56. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources Trading Down 1.7 %

EOG opened at $131.73 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $127.31. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.94 and a 12 month high of $139.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The energy exploration company reported $2.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.16. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.975 dividend. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

EOG Resources declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy exploration company to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

About EOG Resources

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in producing basins in the United States, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.