Enhancing Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Enhancing Capital LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 10,900 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,081,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,771 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $99.42 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $126.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $99.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.65. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $86.81 and a twelve month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.14%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 40.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Barclays cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.05.

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.