Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. Purchases Shares of 18,400 ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Argonautica Private Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 18,400 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,937,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norden Group LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,270 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $925,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at $385,000. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,252 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $414,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 23,555 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,998,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 16.2% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 1,728 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on COP. Mizuho lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank cut their price target 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. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 target price (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $107.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.90. The company has a market cap of $125.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $101.29 and a 12-month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

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.