Gradient Investments LLC Has $475,000 Stake in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Gradient Investments LLC decreased its position in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,872 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 310 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of EOG. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in EOG Resources by 0.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,411,032 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $2,140,338,000 after acquiring an additional 75,194 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,315,735 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $1,513,446,000 after purchasing an additional 180,755 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of EOG Resources by 64.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 5,284,228 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $694,717,000 after purchasing an additional 2,076,134 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in EOG Resources by 9.1% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 4,840,705 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $609,300,000 after purchasing an additional 403,676 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in EOG Resources by 3.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,254,645 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $523,024,000 after buying an additional 130,822 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EOG has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $145.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 price objective (down previously from $151.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $147.00 to $150.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Monday, January 6th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EOG Resources has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.86.

EOG Resources Trading Down 1.7 %

EOG Resources stock opened at $131.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $129.01 and a 200-day moving average of $127.35. The company has a market cap of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.61, a P/E/G ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 1.29. EOG Resources, Inc. has a one year low of $108.94 and a one year high of $139.67.

EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The energy exploration company reported $2.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.73 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $5.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.03 billion. EOG Resources had a return on equity of 23.77% and a net margin of 29.18%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $3.44 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that EOG Resources, Inc. will post 11.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be paid a $0.975 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.40%.

EOG Resources announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, November 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $5.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the energy exploration company to reacquire up to 7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total transaction of $76,867.44. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,185.56. The trade was a 1.29 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value of $483,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,162,365.67. This trade represents a 8.56 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources Company Profile

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.