NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Grows Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 20.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,100 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,100 shares during the period. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,985,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cypress Capital Group grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 3,132 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,255 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,695,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 6.7 %

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $92.52 on Tuesday. 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 12 month low of $91.56 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.72 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.90.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About ConocoPhillips

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.