Alliancebernstein L.P. Purchases 327,241 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,087,500 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 327,241 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $207,017,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 58.9% in the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 3,079 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth $7,017,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth $403,000. Paloma Partners Management Co increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 202.5% in the third quarter. Paloma Partners Management Co now owns 321,944 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $33,894,000 after purchasing an additional 215,532 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 489.8% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 26,711 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 22,182 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COP. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $105.04 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $98.94 and a 200-day moving average of $103.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $86.81 and a twelve month high of $135.18.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.97%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.