EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Stake Reduced by Gradient Investments LLC

Gradient Investments LLC trimmed its stake in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 3,872 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its position in EOG Resources by 765.4% in the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 45,822 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $5,768,000 after purchasing an additional 40,527 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 83,686 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $10,534,000 after buying an additional 27,787 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $250,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in EOG Resources by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,840,705 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $609,300,000 after acquiring an additional 403,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ascent Group LLC boosted its position in EOG Resources by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 16,758 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $2,109,000 after acquiring an additional 1,346 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value of $483,560.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. The trade was a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the sale, the director now owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,891,185.56. This trade represents a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EOG has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James upped their target price on EOG Resources from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.86.

EOG Resources Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EOG opened at $131.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12-month low of $108.94 and a 12-month 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 company’s fifty day moving average is $129.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.35.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The energy exploration company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.16. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy exploration company to repurchase up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a $0.975 dividend. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.40%.

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.