William Blair Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Position in Gulfport Energy Corporation $GPOR

William Blair Investment Management LLC cut its holdings in Gulfport Energy Corporation (NYSE:GPOR) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 192,340 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,805 shares during the quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Gulfport Energy were worth $40,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 2,913 shares of the company’s stock valued at $606,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the last quarter. L & S Advisors Inc grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. L & S Advisors Inc now owns 8,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,080 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC now owns 49,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,392,000 after purchasing an additional 1,963 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Gulfport Energy by 113.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GPOR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of Gulfport Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gulfport Energy from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Gulfport Energy from $248.00 to $251.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Gulfport Energy from $228.00 to $229.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Gulfport Energy from $215.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gulfport Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $230.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gulfport Energy news, SVP Michael Sluiter sold 9,933 shares of Gulfport Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.00, for a total value of $2,085,930.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 11,980 shares in the company, valued at $2,515,800. This trade represents a 45.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jason Joseph Martinez sold 400 shares of Gulfport Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $213.40, for a total transaction of $85,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $829,699.20. This trade represents a 9.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 876,258 shares of company stock worth $179,141,707 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.70% of the company’s stock.

Gulfport Energy Stock Up 0.0%

GPOR stock opened at $178.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.56. Gulfport Energy Corporation has a one year low of $160.95 and a one year high of $225.78. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $195.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.66.

Gulfport Energy (NYSE:GPOR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $5.60 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.61 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $398.19 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $373.24 million. Gulfport Energy had a return on equity of 23.51% and a net margin of 35.72%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gulfport Energy Corporation will post 24.82 EPS for the current year.

About Gulfport Energy

Gulfport Energy Corporation is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company focuses on the development of onshore natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs) and crude oil properties in the United States. Gulfport utilizes horizontal drilling and multi-stage hydraulic fracturing techniques to maximize production and enhance recovery from its resource plays.

The company’s primary operations are concentrated in two major U.S. resource basins.