ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Director Buys $239,675.00 in Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the company’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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $95.12 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $106.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $109.47 billion, a PE ratio of 11.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 37.10%.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $10,902,000 after acquiring an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 83.8% in the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,490 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 23.6% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,488,000 after purchasing an additional 13,595 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after buying an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on COP. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.71.

About ConocoPhillips

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.