Bank of America Corp DE Purchases Shares of 1,324,683 Helmerich & Payne, Inc. $HP

Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,324,683 shares of the oil and gas company's stock, valued at approximately $43,370,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 1.33% of Helmerich & Payne as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the 2nd quarter valued at $513,336,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 11.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,735,765 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $206,660,000 after buying an additional 570,500 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 165.1% during the 4th quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,081,644 shares of the oil and gas company's stock worth $59,702,000 after buying an additional 1,296,537 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 1,731,208 shares of the oil and gas company's stock valued at $49,651,000 after buying an additional 25,085 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canoe Financial LP purchased a new stake in Helmerich & Payne during the first quarter valued at about $33,130,000. 96.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Helmerich & Payne

In related news, Director Hans Helmerich sold 94,470 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.90, for a total value of $4,147,233.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $878,000. This trade represents a 82.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CAO Sara Momper sold 5,054 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.28, for a total value of $223,791.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 16,958 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $750,900.24. This trade represents a 22.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,673 shares of company stock worth $4,864,590. 4.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on HP. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $44.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $35.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $40.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Helmerich & Payne from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $43.10.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

HP stock opened at $40.27 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.56 and a beta of 0.66. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.57 and a 12 month high of $48.17. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.64.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.09 by ($0.20). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $987.70 million. Helmerich & Payne had a negative net margin of 3.43% and a negative return on equity of 2.35%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.22 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post -0.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, November 18th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 18th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Helmerich & Payne's payout ratio is currently -70.92%.

Helmerich & Payne Profile

Helmerich & Payne, Inc is a contract drilling company that provides land and offshore drilling services to oil and gas exploration and production companies. The company operates drilling rigs and supplies related services used to drill, develop and maintain wells.

H&P's offerings include its FlexRig fleet of high-performance land rigs, directional drilling, automated drilling technologies and rig management services. These capabilities are designed to support horizontal and other complex well programs, particularly in unconventional oil and natural gas basins.

Founded in 1920 by Walter Helmerich and William Payne, the company is headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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