California Public Employees Retirement System Has $5.38 Million Stake in Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,103 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 5,860 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.17% of Helmerich & Payne worth $5,383,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of HP. ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 2,686,215 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $86,013,000 after purchasing an additional 801,000 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter worth about $21,572,000. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its position in Helmerich & Payne by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,522,144 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $48,739,000 after buying an additional 329,734 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Helmerich & Payne by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,658,356 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $85,121,000 after acquiring an additional 327,374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 320.2% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 198,415 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,035,000 after acquiring an additional 151,196 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Helmerich & Payne Stock Performance

NYSE:HP opened at $18.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.20, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $31.13. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 1-year low of $18.59 and a 1-year high of $43.68.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 11.02%. Research analysts anticipate that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.31%. Helmerich & Payne’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

Insider Activity

In other Helmerich & Payne news, Director Belgacem Chariag acquired 37,356 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.08 per share, for a total transaction of $1,011,600.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 54,606 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,730.48. This represents a 216.56 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO John W. Lindsay bought 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.55 per share, with a total value of $551,000.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 691,214 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,042,945.70. The trade was a 2.98 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.51% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on HP shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI restated an “in-line” rating and set a $39.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $35.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $33.00 to $32.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.22.

About Helmerich & Payne

Founded in 1920, Helmerich & Payne, Inc (H&P) (NYSE: HP) is committed to delivering industry leading levels of drilling productivity and reliability. H&P operates with the highest level of integrity, safety and innovation to deliver superior results for its customers and returns for shareholders.