Voya Investment Management LLC Sells 90,323 Shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES)

Voya Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Hess Co. (NYSE:HES - Free Report) by 25.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 258,630 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 90,323 shares during the quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC owned 0.08% of Hess worth $34,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 33,141,244 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $4,408,117,000 after acquiring an additional 296,406 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its stake in shares of Hess by 6.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 698,866 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Hess by 2.4% during 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 worth $511,325,000 after acquiring an additional 91,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Hess by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,498,458 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $465,330,000 after acquiring an additional 179,636 shares in the last quarter. 88.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Hess Stock Up 0.0 %

HES traded up $0.04 on Thursday, hitting $129.09. The company had a trading volume of 566,748 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,879,766. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.13. Hess Co. has a 52-week low of $123.79 and a 52-week high of $161.69. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $141.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.34 and a beta of 0.88.

Hess (NYSE:HES - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.95 by ($0.14). Hess had a net margin of 21.27% and a return on equity of 26.32%. The business had revenue of $2.92 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.95 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.16 earnings per share. Hess's revenue for the quarter was down 12.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Hess Co. will post 8.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hess Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. Hess's payout ratio is 22.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO John B. Hess sold 175,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $159.30, for a total transaction of $27,877,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,384,679 shares of the company's stock, valued at $379,879,364.70. This trade represents a 6.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 9.10% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on HES shares. Pickering Energy Partners raised shares of Hess to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $164.00 to $146.58 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $170.00 to $163.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Hess in a report on Sunday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on shares of Hess from $160.00 to $136.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $164.46.

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.