Cohen Klingenstein LLC Sells 16,150 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Cohen Klingenstein LLC cut its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,528 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 16,150 shares during the period. Cohen Klingenstein LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $12,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in Hess by 59.8% during the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 262 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $37,000. Eastern Bank bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the third quarter worth $48,000. LRI Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Hess by 157.2% during the 3rd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 355 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at about $55,000. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Wolfe Research raised shares of Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Hess has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.50.

Hess Stock Performance

NYSE HES opened at $151.33 on Friday. Hess Co. has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $163.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $140.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.26. Hess had a net margin of 20.58% and a return on equity of 27.41%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Transactions at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $147.08, for a total value of $18,385,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,047,849.52. The trade was a 36.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $851,460.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 27,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This trade represents a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 314,370 shares of company stock valued at $45,856,309. 9.76% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.