AGP Franklin LLC Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,973 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,179,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after buying an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,792,521,000 after buying an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,544,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,939 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,420,058 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,430,034,000 after acquiring an additional 862,707 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.74.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $86.32 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.91. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $132.61. The company has a market capitalization of $109.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

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.