Franklin Resources Inc. Raises Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,420,058 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 862,707 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,430,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COP. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 58.9% during the third quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 3,079 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 1,141 shares during the last quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.9% in the third quarter. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,851 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 89.3% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 653 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 308 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at $7,017,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth about $108,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on COP. Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $102.37 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $130.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $86.81 and a 12 month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. 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.