Connable Office Inc. Cuts Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Connable Office Inc. decreased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,046 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,471 shares during the period. Connable Office Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $4,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 7,174 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after acquiring an additional 46,621 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays lowered their price target 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. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $99.12 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $100.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $126.12 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were 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 owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.