California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 12,613 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 508,422 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 12,613 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Hess worth $73,294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in HES. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 37,239,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,697,579,000 after buying an additional 889,122 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Hess by 4.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 7,790,382 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,191,928,000 after acquiring an additional 303,942 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 44.1% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,610,484 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $552,404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,105,204 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Hess by 19.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,951,451 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $451,572,000 after purchasing an additional 489,169 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Hess by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,866,681 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $438,602,000 after purchasing an additional 42,802 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,794.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, COO Gregory P. Hill sold 56,925 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.35, for a total value of $8,330,973.75. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 78,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,457,302.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 73,885 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.87, for a total transaction of $10,777,604.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 138,718 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,794.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 155,798 shares of company stock worth $22,811,166. 9.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE HES opened at $159.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $49.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.36 and a beta of 1.27. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $124.27 and a twelve month high of $167.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day moving average of $150.82 and a 200 day moving average of $147.10.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas producer reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.43 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $3.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.76 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 12.98%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 18th were given a dividend of $0.4375 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 15th. This represents a $1.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 38.89%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HES shares. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Thursday. They issued a “sell” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $172.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Hess from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Hess from $200.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $177.42.

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.