Level Four Advisory Services LLC Trims Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Level Four Advisory Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,537 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,971 shares during the period. Level Four Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.6% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 1,953 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth $31,000. Townsquare Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.6% in the third quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 70,499 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,422,000 after acquiring an additional 5,607 shares during the last quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.8% during the third quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc. now owns 9,418 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $992,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 58.9% in the 3rd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 3,079 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $324,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on COP. TD Cowen assumed 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. Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE COP opened at $102.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $86.81 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $130.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its 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 net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

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.