Transce3nd LLC Acquires New Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Transce3nd LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 745 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. 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 acquiring an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,474,270 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $155,211,000 after buying an additional 32,948 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 186,535 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $18,499,000 after buying an additional 22,378 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $87.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $110.79 billion, a PE ratio of 11.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.11. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $130.77.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on COP. Raymond James downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.32.

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.