Moran Wealth Management LLC Sells 369 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Moran Wealth Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 369 shares during the quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $801,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of HES. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Hess in the 2nd quarter valued at about $6,054,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Hess by 59.9% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 26,823 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $4,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,053 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Hess by 424.8% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 19,466 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,971,000 after purchasing an additional 15,757 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Hess by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 590,326 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $87,085,000 after purchasing an additional 15,684 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its holdings in Hess by 255.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 6,836 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after buying an additional 4,911 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HES. Mizuho dropped their target price on Hess from $210.00 to $194.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Hess from $171.00 to $151.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 27th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Hess from $149.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded Hess from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Hess from $173.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Hess presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $163.30.

Hess Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HES opened at $148.06 on Friday. Hess Co. has a one year low of $123.79 and a one year high of $163.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $45.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.77.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Hess’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Hess Co. will post 9.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hess Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This is a positive change from Hess’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 23.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of Hess stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $851,460.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. The trade was a 17.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total value of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 9.76% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.