HF Advisory Group LLC Boosts Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

HF Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 12.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 16,316 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the period. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COP. State Street Corp boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $105.76 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $103.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $94.23 and a 12-month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 2.95%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

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.