New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 7,393 Shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in shares of Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (NYSE:HP) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,630 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 7,393 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Helmerich & Payne worth $3,702,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 18.1% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 58,634 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 9,004 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 93.9% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 76,064 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 36,828 shares during the period. Petrus Trust Company LTA purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the third quarter valued at approximately $619,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne by 510.7% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 140,655 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $4,279,000 after purchasing an additional 117,624 shares during the period. Finally, Tandem Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Helmerich & Payne during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $413,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.05% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on HP shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Helmerich & Payne from $36.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Argus raised Helmerich & Payne to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “in-line” rating and issued a $39.00 price target (down previously from $48.00) on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Citigroup raised Helmerich & Payne from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Helmerich & Payne in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.25.

Helmerich & Payne Price Performance

HP opened at $26.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.81, a quick ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60. The company has a market cap of $2.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 1.37. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. has a 12-month low of $25.69 and a 12-month high of $44.11.

Helmerich & Payne (NYSE:HP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The oil and gas company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Helmerich & Payne, Inc. will post 2.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Helmerich & Payne Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. Helmerich & Payne’s payout ratio is presently 32.89%.

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.