Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 3,319 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 17.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,414 shares of the energy producer's stock after acquiring an additional 3,319 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,360,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. PFG Investments LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 46.2% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 15,804 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,997 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth $250,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 12,967 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,770 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth $865,000. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 28.5% in the fourth quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 3,547 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value 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 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $135.89.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE COP traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $101.46. 4,742,040 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,869,779. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $102.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $94.23 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $116.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. ConocoPhillips's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. 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 dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

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.