California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 30,052 Shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 424,530 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock after selling 30,052 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.18% of Pioneer Natural Resources worth $95,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of PXD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,015,751 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $4,594,616,000 after acquiring an additional 113,751 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,259,731 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $748,271,000 after buying an additional 231,470 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,239,964 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $743,734,000 after buying an additional 662,891 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Pioneer Natural Resources by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,497,868 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock valued at $573,386,000 after buying an additional 54,841 shares during the period. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Pioneer Natural Resources by 7.5% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,923,819 shares of the oil and gas development company’s stock worth $443,574,000 after purchasing an additional 134,982 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.57% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on PXD. Mizuho raised their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $276.00 to $290.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Pioneer Natural Resources from $237.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotiabank increased their price target on Pioneer Natural Resources from $230.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna increased their price target on Pioneer Natural Resources from $246.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $279.00 price target on shares of Pioneer Natural Resources in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $264.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.25, for a total transaction of $2,352,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 462,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,711,848. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Scott D. Sheffield sold 10,000 shares of Pioneer Natural Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.25, for a total transaction of $2,352,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 462,112 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $108,711,848. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director J Kenneth Thompson sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $250,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,070 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,017,500. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,766 shares of company stock valued at $9,067,373. Corporate insiders own 0.57% of the company’s stock.

Pioneer Natural Resources Trading Up 0.1 %

PXD opened at $275.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $64.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.61 and a beta of 1.31. Pioneer Natural Resources has a 12 month low of $196.74 and a 12 month high of $278.83. The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $253.53 and a 200 day moving average of $239.42.

Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE:PXD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The oil and gas development company reported $5.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.41 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $5.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.28 billion. Pioneer Natural Resources had a return on equity of 22.42% and a net margin of 25.28%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pioneer Natural Resources will post 22.11 EPS for the current year.

Pioneer Natural Resources Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $2.56 dividend. This represents a $10.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Pioneer Natural Resources’s payout ratio is currently 24.70%.

About Pioneer Natural Resources

Pioneer Natural Resources Company operates as an independent oil and gas exploration and production company in the United States. The company explores for, develops, and produces oil, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and gas. It has operations in the Midland Basin in West Texas. The company was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Irving, Texas.