Financial Counselors Inc. Acquires 9,775 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Financial Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 330,817 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,775 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $34,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 48.9% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,320,905 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $454,905,000 after purchasing an additional 1,418,900 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10,634.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,205,666 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $126,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.3% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $717,093,000 after buying an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $107.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $101.29 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 37.10%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.