Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases New Shares in Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)

Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 522 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 5,336 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $1,200,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 26,730 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $6,011,000 after buying an additional 342 shares during the period. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,420 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $1,219,000 after buying an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel Lllp acquired a new stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in the 4th quarter valued at $243,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 29,487 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $6,631,000 after buying an additional 849 shares during the period. 80.57% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Pioneer Natural Resources

In related news, Director Phillip A. Gobe sold 2,000 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.12, for a total value of $522,240.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,906,787.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Pioneer Natural Resources news, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.25, for a total transaction of $2,352,500.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 462,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,711,848. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Phillip A. Gobe sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.12, for a total value of $522,240.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,906,787.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,766 shares of company stock valued at $9,067,373. 0.57% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PXD has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna lifted their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $237.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Pioneer Natural Resources from $243.00 to $224.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho raised their price target on Pioneer Natural Resources from $276.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on Pioneer Natural Resources in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $259.00.

Pioneer Natural Resources Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of PXD traded up $2.34 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $270.31. The stock had a trading volume of 2,900,079 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,359,799. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $238.23. Pioneer Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $196.74 and a twelve month high of $278.83. The firm has a market cap of $63.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.35 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas development company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.41 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. Pioneer Natural Resources had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 22.42%. Pioneer Natural Resources’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.91 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 21.5 EPS for the current year.

Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $2.56 dividend. This represents a $10.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Pioneer Natural Resources’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.70%.

Pioneer Natural Resources Company Profile

Pioneer Natural Resources Company operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gas. It has operations in the Midland Basin in West Texas. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.