Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases New Position in Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS)

Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Kosmos Energy Ltd. (NYSE:KOS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 37,098 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $127,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Kosmos Energy by 26.6% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 341,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,891,000 after acquiring an additional 71,632 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 34,446 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 3.0% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 71,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of Kosmos Energy by 7.1% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 193,057 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 12,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Kosmos Energy by 97.9% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 250,735 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,389,000 after purchasing an additional 124,058 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KOS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Benchmark dropped their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $5.60 price target on shares of Kosmos Energy in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Kosmos Energy from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com upgraded Kosmos Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on Kosmos Energy from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $5.52.

Kosmos Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:KOS opened at $3.44 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $3.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $4.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.82, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 2.43. Kosmos Energy Ltd. has a twelve month low of $2.62 and a twelve month high of $6.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.25.

About Kosmos Energy

Kosmos Energy Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of oil and gas along the Atlantic Margins in the United States. The company’s primary assets include production projects located in offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, as well as gas projects located in offshore Mauritania and Senegal.