Capital Investment Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,629 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,748,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $104.29 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $120.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $104.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.63.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on COP shares. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.76.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.