Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 3,270 Shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Wright Investors Service Inc. reduced its holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 36.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,704 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 3,270 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,411,032 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $2,140,338,000 after acquiring an additional 75,194 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,311,541 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,549,098,000 after purchasing an additional 260,727 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in EOG Resources by 64.7% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,284,228 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $694,717,000 after buying an additional 2,076,134 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in EOG Resources by 9.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,840,705 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $609,300,000 after buying an additional 403,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources Trading Up 2.4 %

EOG Resources stock opened at $134.51 on Tuesday. EOG Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $108.94 and a one year high of $139.67. The business’s fifty day moving average is $128.21 and its 200 day moving average is $126.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.07.

EOG Resources announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the energy exploration company to purchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.975 per share. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.40%.

Insider Activity

In other EOG Resources news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value of $483,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. This trade represents a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 43,532 shares in the company, valued at $5,891,185.56. This trade represents a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EOG has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $147.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research raised EOG Resources from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $143.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $156.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, EOG Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.48.

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.