Leavell Investment Management Inc. Buys 7,174 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 59.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,174 shares during the quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COP. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th 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 period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $98.42 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $113.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly 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, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.56.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, valued at $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents 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.

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.