PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Increases Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,319,214 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 94,826 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $130,826,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during 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 buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Raymond James lowered ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.47.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4 %

COP stock opened at $90.70 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $99.53 and its 200 day moving average is $104.34. The firm has a market cap of $115.40 billion, a PE ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $86.81 and a one year high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. On average, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.44%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.05%.

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.