Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp cut its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 128,531 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,925 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Hess were worth $17,096,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Hess during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 22.7% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 22,606 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 4,186 shares during the last quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Hess during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $158.48 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 52 week low of $123.79 and a 52 week high of $163.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $147.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $141.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Activity at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Hess

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.