ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Purchased by Great Lakes Advisors LLC

Great Lakes Advisors LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,037,325 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,886 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of ConocoPhillips worth $102,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after buying an additional 1,324,771 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after buying an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on COP shares. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of COP stock opened at $95.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $104.07. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $86.81 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.