Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. reduced its holdings in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,348 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 436 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $2,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in EOG Resources during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in EOG Resources in the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 203.7% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 328 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. 89.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EOG. Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of EOG Resources from $156.00 to $148.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Barclays cut their target price on EOG Resources from $144.00 to $137.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Scotiabank decreased their price target on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on EOG Resources from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.86.

Insider Activity at EOG Resources

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the 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 represents a 8.56 % 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, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total value of $76,867.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

EOG Resources Price Performance

Shares of EOG stock opened at $130.38 on Wednesday. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.94 and a 1-year high of $139.67. The company has a market cap of $73.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.50, a PEG ratio of 3.68 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. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $128.91 and its 200 day moving average is $127.40.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The energy exploration company reported $2.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.73 by $0.16. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The company had revenue of $5.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.44 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.975 per share. This is a positive change from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. EOG Resources’s payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

EOG Resources announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the energy exploration company to buy up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.