17,099 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Acquired by Manning & Napier Advisors LLC

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 17,099 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,274,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. HBK Investments L P raised its holdings in 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 valued at $966,600,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,720 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Hess by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,537,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $884,709,000 after acquiring an additional 74,085 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 valued at $509,675,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Hess by 31.0% in the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 785,270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Hess by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,755,376 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $238,380,000 after acquiring an additional 43,061 shares during the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Hess Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of Hess stock opened at $145.77 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $140.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The stock has a market cap of $44.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 1.18.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. Equities research analysts forecast that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Hess news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309 in the last quarter. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research note on Wednesday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

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.