Gradient Investments LLC Buys 34,577 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 236,549 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,577 shares during the quarter. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $23,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during 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 purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on COP shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $101.88 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $117.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 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. The company’s fifty day moving average is $103.19 and its 200-day moving average is $107.20.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.