Ethic Inc. Takes Position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Ethic Inc. bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,377 shares of the energy exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $537,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in EOG Resources by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,919,327 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $5,628,497,000 after acquiring an additional 2,270,013 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,192,314 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $2,230,014,000 after purchasing an additional 781,282 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of EOG Resources by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,549,802 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $1,541,282,000 after buying an additional 234,067 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 5,719,012 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $701,036,000 after buying an additional 159,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in EOG Resources by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,686,003 shares of the energy exploration company's stock valued at $696,990,000 after buying an additional 365,115 shares during the period. 89.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at EOG Resources

In other EOG Resources news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.76, for a total transaction of $515,767.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 47,732 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,098,240.32. This represents a 7.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on EOG. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $165.00 to $160.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded EOG Resources from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $150.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on EOG Resources from $149.00 to $132.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Barclays reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $140.00 to $137.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on EOG Resources from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $141.05.

EOG Resources Stock Down 1.0%

NYSE:EOG traded down $1.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $111.41. 448,234 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,285,571. The stock has a market cap of $60.80 billion, a PE ratio of 8.96, a PEG ratio of 3.58 and a beta of 0.78. EOG Resources, Inc. has a twelve month low of $102.52 and a twelve month high of $138.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $115.47 and a 200 day moving average of $124.19. 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 (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy exploration company reported $2.87 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.75 by $0.12. EOG Resources had a net margin of 29.18% and a return on equity of 23.77%. The business had revenue of $5.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.47 earnings per share for the current year.

EOG Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, July 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.975 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 17th. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. EOG Resources's payout ratio is presently 36.18%.

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.