Rockland Trust Co. Trims Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,311 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 364 shares during the quarter. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.65.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $105.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $121.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.56. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week 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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.