Alliancebernstein L.P. Lowers Stock Position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Alliancebernstein L.P. decreased its position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 319,147 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 4,359 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in Hess were worth $42,450,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of HES. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,408,117,000 after purchasing an additional 296,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after buying an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $511,325,000 after buying an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Hess by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,838,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $244,483,000 after buying an additional 82,703 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

HES has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Hess presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.60.

Insider Activity

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Price Performance

NYSE:HES opened at $133.89 on Friday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $41.28 billion, a PE ratio of 14.88 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $148.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $142.74.

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

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.49%. Hess’s payout ratio is 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.