Choate Investment Advisors Acquires 4,003 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Choate Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 68,211 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,003 shares during the period. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. State Street Corp raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 4,504,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $99.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $126.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.81. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $86.81 and a 1 year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 40.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on COP. 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 for the company. Raymond James downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. This 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 hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

About ConocoPhillips

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.