Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,115,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 98,366 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.36% of Hess worth $148,334,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Hess by 0.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 296,406 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $884,709,000 after purchasing an additional 74,085 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted 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 worth $511,325,000 after buying an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of Hess by 46.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,930,509 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $389,787,000 after buying an additional 927,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings 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 during the period. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

HES stock opened at $160.23 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $49.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.80 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $148.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Hess Co. has a 12-month low of $123.79 and a 12-month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly 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 net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.22%.

About Hess

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.