Drive Wealth Management LLC Sells 218 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Drive Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,003 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 218 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Hess were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HES. CX Institutional increased its stake in Hess by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 2,135 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $284,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. True North Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $216,000. Wesbanco Bank Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Hess during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $323,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 441.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 54,831 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,293,000 after purchasing an additional 44,710 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC grew its stake in Hess by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 2,203 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

HES has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Hess from $157.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Hess from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $151.00 to $193.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Hess from $155.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Hess from $173.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Hess from $145.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In other news, CEO John B. Hess sold 90,476 shares of Hess stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $142.47, for a total transaction of $12,890,115.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 223,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,791,753.09. The trade was a 28.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Geurt G. Schoonman sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 27,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,914,019.71. This represents a 17.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 314,370 shares of company stock worth $45,856,309. Company insiders own 9.76% of the company’s stock.

Hess Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:HES opened at $144.32 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $141.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.48. The company has a market cap of $44.47 billion, a PE ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.18. Hess Co. has a twelve month low of $123.79 and a twelve month high of $163.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Hess (NYSE:HES) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.96 billion. Hess had a return on equity of 27.41% and a net margin of 20.58%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.64 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Hess Co. will post 9.51 EPS for the current year.

Hess Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Hess’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 23.31%.

Hess 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.