New York State Common Retirement Fund Has $36.11 Million Holdings in Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lowered its position in shares of Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 3.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 226,066 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 8,705 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned about 0.07% of Hess worth $36,110,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Independent Advisor Alliance acquired a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $240,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hess by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,982 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $530,000 after purchasing an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Hess by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 798 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in Hess by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,971 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $528,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ bought a new position in Hess in the fourth quarter valued at about $65,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.51% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Hess

In other Hess news, CEO John B. Hess sold 250,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $136.01, for a total value of $34,002,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,734,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $235,933,690.79. The trade was a 12.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hess Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Hess stock traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $148.55. The company had a trading volume of 1,335,804 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,847,313. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $141.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $45.95 billion, a PE ratio of 20.53 and a beta of 0.62. Hess Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $123.79 and a fifty-two week high of $161.69.

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

Hess Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Hess's dividend payout ratio is currently 27.66%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on HES shares. Scotiabank set a $155.00 target price on Hess and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Hess from $193.00 to $184.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Hess from $193.00 to $191.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Hess from $147.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Hess from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $163.70.

About Hess

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.