Howard Financial Services LTD. Buys 142 Shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG)

Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its stake in shares of EOG Resources, Inc. (NYSE:EOG) by 8.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,849 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in EOG Resources were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Insight Inv LLC increased its position in EOG Resources by 0.8% during the third quarter. Insight Inv LLC now owns 9,385 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,154,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank grew its holdings in EOG Resources by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cape ANN Savings Bank now owns 8,679 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC raised its position in EOG Resources by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 2,380 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton lifted its stake in EOG Resources by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 2,921 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FSM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of EOG Resources by 5.5% during the third quarter. FSM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,702 shares of the energy exploration company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.91% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources Trading Down 1.0 %

NYSE:EOG opened at $136.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $128.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $126.99. EOG Resources, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.94 and a 12 month high of $139.67. The company has a market capitalization of $76.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.01, a PEG ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.29.

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 dividend of $0.975 per share. This represents a $3.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.85%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 17th. This is an increase from EOG Resources’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. EOG Resources’s payout ratio is presently 29.31%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on EOG Resources from $127.00 to $134.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $144.00 price target (down previously from $151.00) on shares of EOG Resources in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of EOG Resources from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $147.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com raised EOG Resources from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 11th. Finally, Raymond James upped their price target on shares of EOG Resources from $156.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Thirteen investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, EOG Resources presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $143.48.

Insider Activity

In other EOG Resources news, Director Janet F. Clark sold 568 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.33, for a total value of $76,867.44. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 43,532 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,891,185.56. This represents a 1.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Leitzell sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.89, for a total value of $483,560.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 42,703 shares in the company, valued at $5,162,365.67. This represents a 8.56 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

EOG Resources 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.