Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its holdings in Eni S.p.A. (NYSE:E - Free Report) by 87.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,165 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 48,825 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in ENI were worth $196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ENI by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 7,341 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $201,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of ENI by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 49,250 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 488 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of ENI by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 26,189 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 532 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of ENI by 30.5% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,488 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ENI by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 8,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on E. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating and issued a $31.60 price objective (down from $37.50) on shares of ENI in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of ENI in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Redburn Atlantic lowered ENI from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of ENI from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $31.60.

ENI Price Performance

Shares of ENI stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, reaching $28.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 72,224 shares, compared to its average volume of 317,067. Eni S.p.A. has a 52-week low of $24.65 and a 52-week high of $33.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.83. The company has a market capitalization of $48.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.19, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 0.73.

ENI (NYSE:E - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.01. ENI had a net margin of 2.76% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The company had revenue of $25.61 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.52 billion. Analysts expect that Eni S.p.A. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

ENI Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a -- dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 9th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.5391 per share. This is an increase from ENI's previous -- dividend of $0.35. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 20th. This represents a dividend yield of 5.5%. ENI's dividend payout ratio is 89.82%.

ENI Company Profile

Eni SpA engages in the exploration, production, refining, and sale of oil, gas, electricity, and chemicals. It operates through the following segments: Exploration and Production, Global Gas and LNG Portfolio, Refining & Marketing and Chemicals, Power & Renewables, and Corporate and Other Activities.