Wright Investors Service Inc. Increases Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Wright Investors Service Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 18.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,595 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,304 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in 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 period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in 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 during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of COP stock opened at $104.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $120.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. 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 fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.63.

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

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.