23,436 Shares in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) Acquired by Strategic Financial Concepts LLC

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 23,436 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,117,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. HBK Investments L P grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 1,017,720 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.1% during the third 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 buying an additional 74,085 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Hess by 58.9% during the third 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 buying an additional 1,391,311 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position 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 worth $450,696,000 after acquiring an additional 785,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $238,380,000 after acquiring an additional 43,061 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Hess Stock Up 0.5 %

Hess stock opened at $146.65 on Monday. 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 P/E ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $140.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $138.84. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 7.69 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Hess’s payout ratio is currently 22.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HES has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com started coverage on Hess in a report on Friday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.