PFW Advisors LLC Takes $208,000 Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,094 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COP. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on COP shares. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley began 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, Susquehanna upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.76.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.3 %

COP traded up $2.37 during trading on Monday, hitting $104.29. The stock had a trading volume of 7,340,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,902,763. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $120.03 billion, a PE ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

ConocoPhillips Company 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.