Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 700 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 700 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Hess were worth $1,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Hess by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,753,126 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $509,675,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391,311 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P lifted its position in shares of Hess by 16.7% in the 3rd quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,117,820 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $966,600,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Hess by 31.0% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,318,822 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $450,696,000 after purchasing an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in Hess during the third quarter valued at approximately $75,126,000. Finally, ING Groep NV raised its stake in Hess by 267.8% in the third quarter. ING Groep NV now owns 533,264 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $72,417,000 after buying an additional 388,273 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on HES shares. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Pickering Energy Partners upgraded shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Friday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. This trade represents a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hess Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE:HES opened at $146.65 on Friday. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $163.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $45.18 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.17. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $140.24 and its 200 day moving average price is $138.94.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a return on equity of 26.32% and a net margin of 21.27%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 22.22%.

Hess Company 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.