Saxon Interests Inc. Makes New $209,000 Investment in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Saxon Interests Inc. purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,108 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 valued at $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake 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, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Susquehanna boosted 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. Barclays raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $105.93 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $121.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50-day moving average is $104.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 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 paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

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.