CX Institutional Raises Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 63,992 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,445 shares during the period. CX Institutional’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,346,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter worth $33,128,000. AlTi Global Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 7,132 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $816,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 32,046 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,665,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 615,172 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $70,363,000 after purchasing an additional 123,834 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth about $60,050,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $103.99 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $119.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $103.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.22. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm 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 represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on COP. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $135.89.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is 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.