Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Trims Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,012 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 2,074 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,670,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Susquehanna boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.72.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

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

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $99.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $114.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $101.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $106.11. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. Analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

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.