Southland Equity Partners LLC Grows Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,409 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 196 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $437,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Albion Financial Group UT grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 876.9% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 254 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 343 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in 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 topic of several research reports. Barclays raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $135.89.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $104.07 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $103.36 and a 200 day moving average of $107.22. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $94.23 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 37.10%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased 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 approximately $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.