Meyer Handelman Co. Raises Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 96.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 150,968 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,308 shares during the quarter. Meyer Handelman Co.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $14,971,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 80.5% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 343 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 approximately $2,061,205. This represents 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on COP shares. Barclays increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.65.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.6 %

NYSE:COP opened at $104.83 on Wednesday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 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.