Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Increases Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 154,511 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,824 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $15,323,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cypress Capital Group boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 18,790 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,978,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,342 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.3% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 3,132 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Principle Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,255 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,695,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.0% during the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on COP shares. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.3 %

COP stock opened at $97.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $86.81 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $99.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.03. The stock has a market cap of $124.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. Research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued 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 3.20%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 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.