Sanctuary Advisors LLC Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 253,242 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,042 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $25,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 42.7% in 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. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,901,000 after purchasing an additional 7,174 shares in 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 buying an additional 383 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 23.6% in the third 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 period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $262,094,000 after buying an additional 46,621 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of several research reports. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. UBS Group cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.56.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $96.39 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.69. The company has a market cap of $110.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS 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 research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 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.