R A. Walker Buys 10,400 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 2.5 %

ConocoPhillips stock traded down $2.41 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $95.85. 8,461,545 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,047,130. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.41. The company has a market capitalization of $110.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.40, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $95.75 and a 52-week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS 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 business had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position 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 valued at $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after buying an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, September 13th. Susquehanna upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $139.24.

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.