Cigna Investments Inc. New Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Cigna Investments Inc. New grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 9.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,221 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,311,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp boosted 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 purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

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

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of COP stock opened at $99.39 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $94.23 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $114.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $101.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.11.

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, 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%. Research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on COP. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Truist Financial upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Raymond James lowered ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.72.

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.