Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) Shares Sold by Sterling Investment Management LLC

Sterling Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,516 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Pioneer Natural Resources comprises about 1.9% of Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sterling Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources were worth $2,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 46.4% during the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,242,203 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $968,877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343,601 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 75,598.7% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 996,195 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $227,521,000 after purchasing an additional 994,879 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,239,964 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $743,734,000 after purchasing an additional 662,891 shares in the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Pioneer Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $134,558,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 610.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 618,449 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $141,965,000 after purchasing an additional 531,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 80.57% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on PXD shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $243.00 to $224.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $269.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $276.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $254.90.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.25, for a total transaction of $2,352,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 462,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,711,848. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.25, for a total transaction of $2,352,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 462,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,711,848. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Mark H. Kleinman sold 4,350 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $254.08, for a total value of $1,105,248.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,506 shares in the company, valued at $11,562,164.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,350 shares of company stock valued at $8,175,628. Company insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Pioneer Natural Resources Stock Performance

Shares of PXD opened at $260.00 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $235.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $233.55. Pioneer Natural Resources has a 12-month low of $193.40 and a 12-month high of $260.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.74 billion, a PE ratio of 12.85 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas development company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.41 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Pioneer Natural Resources had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 22.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.91 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 20.35 EPS for the current year.

Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $2.56 per share. This represents a $10.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Pioneer Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.70%.

Pioneer Natural Resources Company Profile

Pioneer Natural Resources Company operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gas. It has operations in the Midland Basin in West Texas. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.