HM Payson & Co. Grows Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

HM Payson & Co. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,628 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,094 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,839,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COP. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in 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 during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COP. TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Truist Financial lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4 %

COP opened at $90.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $86.81 and a one year high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

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.