State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Acquires 7,012 Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,807 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,012 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Helmerich & Payne were worth $2,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in HP. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 189.6% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 51,946 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 34,007 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in Helmerich & Payne by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 22,178 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $935,000 after buying an additional 1,118 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its position in Helmerich & Payne by 134.3% in the 3rd quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 31,400 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,323,000 after buying an additional 18,000 shares during the last quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne in the 3rd quarter valued at $251,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 71.7% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 29,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,252,000 after acquiring an additional 12,400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Cara M. Hair sold 9,910 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.22, for a total transaction of $398,580.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 137,764 shares in the company, valued at $5,540,868.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Cara M. Hair sold 9,910 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.22, for a total transaction of $398,580.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 137,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,540,868.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Mark W. Smith sold 16,000 shares of Helmerich & Payne stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.49, for a total value of $647,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 144,870 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,865,786.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 4.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Helmerich & Payne from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Helmerich & Payne from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut shares of Helmerich & Payne from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $44.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $37.00 to $33.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Helmerich & Payne presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $42.63.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

HP opened at $38.22 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 1.51. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.41 and a 12 month high of $46.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 2.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.63.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The oil and gas company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.01). Helmerich & Payne had a return on equity of 13.21% and a net margin of 12.84%. The business had revenue of $687.94 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $682.51 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.26 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is currently 28.57%.

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.