Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Buys New Shares in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,182 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $514,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.8% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 7,174 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after buying an additional 13,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after buying an additional 46,621 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $90.70 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $86.81 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.34. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $115.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

Insider Activity

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

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.