ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.

Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. cut its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 80.7% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 13,540 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 56,623 shares during the quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,343,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 53,008 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $6,063,000 after purchasing an additional 1,576 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at about $33,128,000. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 15.6% during the second quarter. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,846 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $326,000 after buying an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 58.4% during the second quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 225,341 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $25,775,000 after buying an additional 83,095 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sfmg LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 38.6% in the 2nd quarter. Sfmg LLC now owns 66,033 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,553,000 after acquiring an additional 18,383 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lowered their target price 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. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $103.02 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $103.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.22. The company has a market capitalization of $118.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.03%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio 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.