Swedbank AB Has $27.49 Million Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Swedbank AB lowered its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 206,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 893 shares during the period. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Hess were worth $27,490,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of HES. HBK Investments L P boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $966,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Hess by 1.1% during the third 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 during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 785,270 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $238,380,000 after buying an additional 43,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the topic of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.50.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares in the company, valued at $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hess Price Performance

HES stock opened at $145.77 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $140.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $139.43. Hess Co. has a 12 month low of $123.79 and a 12 month high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $44.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. On average, analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

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.