Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $58.14 Million Holdings in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 426,309 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 25,735 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.14% of Hess worth $58,144,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of HES. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the fourth quarter worth $3,117,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hess during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,274,000. Czech National Bank boosted its holdings in Hess by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 59,927 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,625 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Hess by 4.7% in the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 82,703 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Hess by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 43,085 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,861 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Hess Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $158.48 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $147.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $141.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm has a market cap of $48.86 billion, a PE ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.44 by $0.32. Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total value of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. The trade was a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

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.