Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton Reduces Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton decreased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,210 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 526 shares during the period. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of COP stock opened at $104.29 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $104.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COP. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased 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. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.