Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 191,849 Shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,241,223 shares of the energy exploration company's stock after selling 191,849 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.41% of EOG Resources worth $287,414,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 45,919,327 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $5,628,497,000 after buying an additional 2,270,013 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 2.9% during the 4th 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. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 5,686,003 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $696,990,000 after buying an additional 365,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,874,964 shares of the energy exploration company's stock worth $597,476,000 after buying an additional 50,896 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EOG. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $148.00 target price (up from $144.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of EOG Resources from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $150.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $161.00 to $156.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Stephens began coverage on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $137.00 target price for the company. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $140.00 to $134.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $139.48.

EOG Resources Stock Performance

Shares of EOG traded down $3.38 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $119.77. 3,691,877 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,405,811. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.52 and a 52 week high of $138.18. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $115.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $121.29. The firm has a market cap of $65.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.94 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 1.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The energy exploration company reported $2.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.75 by $0.12. EOG Resources had a net margin of 26.14% and a return on equity of 22.35%. The company had revenue of $5.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.92 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.82 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.47 EPS for the current year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.02 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 17th. This is a boost from EOG Resources's previous quarterly dividend of $0.98. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.41%. EOG Resources's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.18%.

Insider Transactions at EOG Resources

In related news, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 3,951 shares of EOG Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.65, for a total value of $472,737.15. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 45,739 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,472,671.35. This trade represents a 7.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.