EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,081,215 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 203,013 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $622,855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in EOG Resources by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,192,314 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $2,230,014,000 after acquiring an additional 781,282 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of EOG Resources by 1.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,315,735 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,513,446,000 after purchasing an additional 180,755 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in EOG Resources by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,686,003 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $696,990,000 after purchasing an additional 365,115 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in EOG Resources by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,469,142 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $547,827,000 after buying an additional 214,497 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 4,642.2% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 2,852,238 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $349,627,000 after buying an additional 2,792,092 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of EOG Resources from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $146.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Monday, January 13th. Williams Trading set a $154.00 price objective on EOG Resources in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $144.67.

EOG Resources Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EOG opened at $128.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $71.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $128.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $127.85. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52-week low of $115.78 and a 52-week high of $139.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 2.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The energy exploration company reported $2.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.55 by $0.19. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 16th will be paid a $0.975 dividend. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 16th. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.73%.

About EOG Resources

EOG Resources, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, explores for, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas primarily in producing basins in the United States, the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and internationally. The company was formerly known as Enron Oil & Gas Company.