Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys New Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired 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 acquired 3,714 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $368,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.6 %

COP stock opened at $98.34 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $113.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.18. 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 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. Equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on COP. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.89.

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.