81,410 EOG Resources, Inc. $EOG Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 13.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 532,190 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 81,410 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $73,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in EOG Resources during the second quarter worth about $138,987,000. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $11,746,000. Parvin Asset Management LLC bought a new position in EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,743,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,051,000. Finally, Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,517,000. Institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other EOG Resources news, CEO Ezra Y. Yacob sold 35,942 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $152.10, for a total value of $5,466,778.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 242,451 shares in the company, valued at $36,876,797.10. This trade represents a 12.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Michael P. Donaldson sold 7,336 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.00, for a total transaction of $1,085,728.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 100,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,882,584. The trade was a 6.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 52,317 shares of company stock worth $7,823,480 in the last three months. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EOG. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $144.00 price target for the company. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $155.00 to $168.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price objective (up from $141.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Zacks Research upgraded EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 16th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on EOG Resources from $186.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and seventeen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $162.84.

EOG Resources Price Performance

NYSE EOG traded up $2.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $158.25. 3,240,241 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,273,360. The company has a market cap of $82.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.22, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. EOG Resources, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $101.59 and a fifty-two week high of $165.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $150.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.97.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The energy exploration company reported $4.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.45 by $0.42. EOG Resources had a net margin of 27.54% and a return on equity of 26.32%. The company had revenue of $8.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 46.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 18.22 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 29th. Investors of record on Friday, January 15th will be given a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 15th. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. This is a positive change from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.42%.

EOG Resources Profile

EOG Resources is an independent energy company focused on exploring for, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Its operations include drilling and managing wells, with a focus on resources in shale and other tight-rock formations. The company’s activities are concentrated in the United States, including major producing regions such as the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford. EOG also has international operations, including in Trinidad and Tobago and the United Arab Emirates.