First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Has $872,000 Stake in EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. lessened its position in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,112 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $872,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in EOG Resources in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of EOG Resources during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. grew its position in shares of EOG Resources by 203.7% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 328 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 220 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on EOG. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $167.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on EOG Resources from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of EOG Resources in a report on Monday, January 13th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on shares of EOG Resources from $157.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $147.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, EOG Resources presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $143.86.

EOG Resources Price Performance

EOG stock opened at $131.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $129.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.37. The stock has a market cap of $74.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.62, 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 2.31 and a quick ratio of 2.07.

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

EOG Resources announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, November 7th that allows the company to repurchase $5.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the energy exploration company to purchase up to 7% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

EOG Resources Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.975 dividend. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 17th. This represents a $3.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.96%. EOG Resources’s payout ratio is presently 31.40%.

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.