Benjamin Edwards Inc. Decreases Stake in Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lessened its stake in Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) by 88.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 422 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock after selling 3,378 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources were worth $95,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of PXD. West Family Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. West Family Investments Inc. now owns 1,033 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation lifted its position in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 61,001 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $13,716,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares in the last quarter. JFG Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources during the fourth quarter valued at $900,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. raised its stake in Pioneer Natural Resources by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 4,472 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 246.4% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 119,602 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $26,896,000 after buying an additional 85,070 shares during the period. 80.57% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Mark H. Kleinman sold 3,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.35, for a total value of $820,225.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,856 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,683,753.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources 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 sale, the director now owns 462,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $108,711,848. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Mark H. Kleinman sold 3,500 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources stock in a transaction on Monday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $234.35, for a total transaction of $820,225.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 49,856 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,683,753.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,766 shares of company stock worth $9,067,373 in the last quarter. 0.57% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Pioneer Natural Resources Price Performance

Shares of PXD opened at $269.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $62.99 billion, a PE ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 1.28. Pioneer Natural Resources has a twelve month low of $196.74 and a twelve month high of $278.83. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $258.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.84.

Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas development company reported $5.28 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.41 by ($0.13). Pioneer Natural Resources had a net margin of 25.28% and a return on equity of 22.42%. The company had revenue of $5.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.28 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 22.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $2.56 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $10.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.80%. Pioneer Natural Resources’s payout ratio is presently 24.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on PXD. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Pioneer Natural Resources from $230.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on Pioneer Natural Resources from $246.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho boosted 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. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources from $237.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $279.00 target price on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $264.10.

About Pioneer Natural Resources

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.