denkapparat Operations GmbH Makes New $246,000 Investment in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

denkapparat Operations GmbH bought a new position in Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 1,846 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $246,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC grew its stake in Hess by 10.3% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 18,862 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,561,000 after buying an additional 1,764 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Hess by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 397,926 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $54,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,287 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Hess in the 3rd quarter valued at $298,000. Bridgewater Associates LP raised its position in Hess by 107.2% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 86,502 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,747,000 after purchasing an additional 44,746 shares during the period. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its position in shares of Hess by 37.9% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 2,474 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 2,384,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,879,364.70. This represents a 6.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on HES. Wells Fargo & Company raised Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Hess from $185.00 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Hess in a research report on Wednesday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.60.

Hess Stock Performance

Shares of HES stock opened at $158.48 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.61 and a beta of 1.21. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $147.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $141.79.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 8.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.26%. Hess’s payout ratio is 22.22%.

Hess 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.