ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Purchased by Argent Advisors Inc.

Argent Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 5.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,501 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $248,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. State Street Corp raised 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 acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position 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 worth $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position 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 worth $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew 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 worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position 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 worth $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.5 %

COP stock opened at $99.42 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $86.81 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $126.50 billion, a PE ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.14%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.05.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.