GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Sells 2,213 Shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. trimmed its stake in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,877 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 2,213 shares during the quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Hess were worth $8,925,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Hess by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,408,117,000 after purchasing an additional 296,406 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 11,438,985 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,521,499,000 after buying an additional 698,866 shares during the period. HBK Investments L P boosted its holdings in shares of Hess by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. HBK Investments L P now owns 7,237,911 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $962,715,000 after buying an additional 120,091 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Hess by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,695,533 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $888,240,000 after acquiring an additional 158,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Hess by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 3,844,257 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $511,325,000 after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares during the period. 88.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Hess

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $34,002,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,734,679 shares in the company, valued at approximately $235,933,690.79. This represents a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on HES. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. UBS Group increased their target price on Hess from $163.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Wall Street Zen raised Hess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, June 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Hess currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $162.86.

Hess Stock Down 0.8%

NYSE HES traded down $1.11 on Friday, reaching $142.42. The stock had a trading volume of 696,543 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,806,686. Hess Corporation has a 1 year low of $123.79 and a 1 year high of $161.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $135.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $139.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $44.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.70 and a beta of 0.62.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $2.92 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.95 billion. Hess had a net margin of 17.65% and a return on equity of 21.78%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 12.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.16 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Hess Corporation will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Hess's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.66%.

Hess Company 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.