Foster & Motley Inc. Increases Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,150 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 2,314 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,403,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after buying an additional 13,595 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after buying an additional 46,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after buying an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COP. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $135.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE COP opened at $101.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $102.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.86. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a market cap of $116.71 billion, a PE ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19.

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

ConocoPhillips Company 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.