Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 297 Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) by 18.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,883 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock after buying an additional 297 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources were worth $424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Hartford Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 61.1% during the fourth quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. now owns 116 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources during the 3rd quarter worth $29,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in Pioneer Natural Resources by 85.0% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 148 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Finally, OLD Second National Bank of Aurora purchased a new stake in Pioneer Natural Resources during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.57% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director J Kenneth Thompson sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,070 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,500. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Pioneer Natural Resources news, Director J Kenneth Thompson sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,070 shares in the company, valued at $4,017,500. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.25, for a total value of $2,352,500.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 462,112 shares in the company, valued at approximately $108,711,848. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,766 shares of company stock worth $9,067,373. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $237.00 to $275.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Susquehanna upped their price objective on Pioneer Natural Resources from $246.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $279.00 target price on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Pioneer Natural Resources from $238.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $276.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pioneer Natural Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $264.10.

Pioneer Natural Resources Stock Performance

NYSE:PXD opened at $269.62 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $63.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $260.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.89. Pioneer Natural Resources has a 1 year low of $196.74 and a 1 year high of $278.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 0.90 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas development company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.41 by ($0.13). Pioneer Natural Resources had a return on equity of 21.21% and a net margin of 24.28%. The business had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.91 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 22.07 EPS for the current year.

Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $2.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $10.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.80%. Pioneer Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.70%.

Pioneer Natural Resources Profile

Pioneer Natural Resources Company operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gas. It has operations in the Midland Basin in West Texas. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.