Nicholas Company Inc. Increases Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Nicholas Company Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 61.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 66,357 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,232 shares during the quarter. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 7,174 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after acquiring an additional 46,621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE COP opened at $99.10 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.81. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $126.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.72, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. Equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.05.

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.