ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Bought by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,818 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 463 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 34.1% in the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 8,373 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares in the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 8.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,145 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $932,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Financial Advisors LTD purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at about $141,000. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Greenwich Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,581 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter worth about $6,848,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $104.29 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $120.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $104.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.63.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.76.

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.