Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,849 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 2,268 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,927,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $10,902,000 after acquiring an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,901,000 after purchasing an additional 7,174 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after buying an additional 46,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third 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 last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $101.33 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $128.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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 represents a 13.16 % 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. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.05.

ConocoPhillips 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.