Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 299,173 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $29,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COP. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd 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 increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased 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 worth $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd 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. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $101.88 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.20. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $117.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought 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. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $135.89.

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.