Grove Bank & Trust Grows Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,054 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 512 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,295,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth $888,000. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Lbmc Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,065 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 258 shares during the period. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 287.4% in the 4th quarter. Arbor Trust Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,911 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 5,127 shares in the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 9,667 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $959,000 after acquiring an additional 2,676 shares during the period. Finally, HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 16,316 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on COP. Piper Sandler cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price objective for the company. Susquehanna upped their target price 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 decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.1 %

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $105.76 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $94.23 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $103.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS 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 business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 2.95%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 37.10%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.