CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC Reduces Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 23.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,006 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,232 shares during the quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during 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 buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after buying an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $135.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, 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. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 2.0 %

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $101.88 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $117.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $102.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 37.10%.

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.