Jennison Associates LLC Increases Stake in Gulfport Energy Corporation $GPOR

Key Points

• Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) by 14.2% in Q4 to 671,483 shares, representing about 3.48% of the company and valued at roughly $139.7 million.
• Analyst sentiment is a consensus "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $230, and Bank of America recently raised its target to $237 while ratings range from Strong Buy to Hold.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently, disposing of 876,258 shares worth about $179.1 million in the last 90 days, leaving insiders with roughly 0.70% ownership.

Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Gulfport Energy Corporation (NYSE:GPOR - Free Report) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 671,483 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 83,613 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 3.48% of Gulfport Energy worth $139,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GPOR. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 1,281.6% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 426,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,104,000 after buying an additional 395,197 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Gulfport Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,665,000. Whitebox Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 148.6% during the third quarter. Whitebox Advisors LLC now owns 274,627 shares of the company's stock valued at $49,702,000 after buying an additional 164,178 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 84.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 347,862 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,956,000 after buying an additional 159,255 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Gulfport Energy by 93.9% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 313,884 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,807,000 after buying an additional 152,005 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GPOR shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Gulfport Energy from $215.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gulfport Energy from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded Gulfport Energy from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Gulfport Energy from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered Gulfport Energy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $230.00.

Gulfport Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Gulfport Energy stock opened at $191.77 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $201.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $199.58. Gulfport Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $160.95 and a 12 month high of $225.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 0.59.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.61 by ($0.01). Gulfport Energy had a return on equity of 21.85% and a net margin of 30.01%.The company had revenue of $398.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $373.24 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gulfport Energy Corporation will post 25.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy J. Cutt sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $208.73, for a total transaction of $1,043,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 26,255 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,480,206.15. This represents a 16.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Silver Point Capital L.P. sold 84,416 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.22, for a total value of $17,239,435.52. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,605,729 shares in the company, valued at approximately $532,141,976.38. The trade was a 3.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 876,258 shares of company stock valued at $179,141,707. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company's stock.

Gulfport Energy Profile

Gulfport Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the development of onshore natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil properties in the United States. Gulfport utilizes horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to maximize production and enhance recovery from its resource plays.

The company's primary operations are concentrated in two major U.S. resource basins.

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