ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Acquired by Iowa State Bank

Iowa State Bank boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,196 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the quarter. Iowa State Bank’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 28,513 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,828,000 after purchasing an additional 1,757 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Management LLC MS now owns 7,730 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $767,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. General Partner Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. General Partner Inc. now owns 2,232 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $221,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 38.0% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,123 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,789,000 after purchasing an additional 7,739 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on COP. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.71.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.4 %

COP traded down $0.39 on Monday, hitting $100.70. The company had a trading volume of 3,089,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,592,606. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $104.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $108.12. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $94.23 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $115.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.97, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given 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 of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.10%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

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

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.