TCW Group Inc. Buys 63,564 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

TCW Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 216.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 92,945 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,564 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $9,217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in 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 purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after buying an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 4.0 %

COP opened at $97.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $100.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.43. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 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.