Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 400 Shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. lessened its holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 23.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,295 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 400 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 105.5% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 3,623 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 1,860 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new stake in shares of EOG Resources in the fourth quarter worth $699,000. Matrix Trust Co lifted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 700.6% in the fourth quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 2,778 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,431 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in EOG Resources by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 121,951 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $14,949,000 after acquiring an additional 6,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC raised its position in EOG Resources by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 4,579 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Mizuho dropped their price target 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. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $157.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.48.

Insider Activity at EOG Resources

In other EOG Resources news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,185.56. The trade was a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total transaction of $483,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,365.67. This represents a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

Shares of EOG stock opened at $135.91 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $76.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.94 and a 52 week high of $139.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $128.48 and a 200-day moving average of $126.84.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.975 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

EOG Resources declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that permits the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the energy exploration company to repurchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

EOG Resources Profile

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.