Jennison Associates LLC Sells 52,179 Shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy Co. (NASDAQ:CHK) by 20.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 197,552 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,179 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Chesapeake Energy were worth $15,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 9,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $716,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. boosted its stake in Chesapeake Energy by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 3,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in Chesapeake Energy by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 2,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $242,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,000 after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Chesapeake Energy by 7.6% in the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $242,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. 97.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Mizuho reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Citigroup raised shares of Chesapeake Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, January 12th. TheStreet lowered shares of Chesapeake Energy from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, December 29th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of Chesapeake Energy from $107.00 to $93.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $104.73.

Chesapeake Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ CHK opened at $91.47 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $85.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $82.14. The firm has a market cap of $11.96 billion, a PE ratio of 5.43 and a beta of 0.52. Chesapeake Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $72.84 and a 1 year high of $91.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.99 and a quick ratio of 1.99.

Chesapeake Energy (NASDAQ:CHK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 20th. The company reported $1.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.89. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $962.95 million. Chesapeake Energy had a net margin of 27.74% and a return on equity of 6.74%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.22 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Chesapeake Energy Co. will post 1.76 EPS for the current year.

Chesapeake Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.575 per share. This represents a $2.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 6th. Chesapeake Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.66%.

Chesapeake Energy Company Profile

Chesapeake Energy Corporation operates as an independent exploration and production company in the United States. It engages in acquisition, exploration, and development of properties to produce oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids from underground reservoirs. The company holds interests in natural gas resource plays in the Marcellus Shale in the northern Appalachian Basin in Pennsylvania and the Haynesville/Bossier Shales in northwestern Louisiana.