William Blair Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)

William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) by 28.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,743,734 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,114,499 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kosmos Energy were worth $64,104,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Caprock Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kosmos Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Kosmos Energy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. 95.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kosmos Energy

In other Kosmos Energy news, SVP Josh R. Marion sold 16,144 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.12, for a total value of $50,369.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 172,057 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,817.84. This trade represents a 8.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Ronald W. Glass sold 16,182 shares of Kosmos Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.12, for a total transaction of $50,487.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 320,231 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $999,120.72. The trade was a 4.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 503,970 shares of company stock valued at $1,572,386. Corporate insiders own 2.02% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on KOS shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Kosmos Energy from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $5.60 target price on shares of Kosmos Energy in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Benchmark cut shares of Kosmos Energy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kosmos Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kosmos Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.52.

Kosmos Energy Stock Performance

KOS opened at $2.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.15, a PEG ratio of 5.24 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a fifty day moving average of $3.07 and a 200 day moving average of $3.60. Kosmos Energy Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $2.07 and a fifty-two week high of $6.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.75.

Kosmos Energy (NYSE:KOS) last posted its earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The oil and gas producer reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $397.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $387.60 million. Kosmos Energy had a net margin of 12.21% and a return on equity of 31.08%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kosmos Energy Ltd. will post 0.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kosmos Energy Company Profile

Kosmos Energy Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas along the Atlantic Margins in the United States. The company’s primary assets include production projects located in offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as gas projects located in offshore Mauritania and Senegal.