Victory Capital Management Inc. Boosts Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 33.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,813,082 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 449,921 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.16% of ConocoPhillips worth $179,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Albion Financial Group UT grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 876.9% in the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 254 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth $31,000. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 80.5% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 343 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the period. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James lowered ConocoPhillips from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP traded down $1.67 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.98. The stock had a trading volume of 12,078,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,213,794. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.82 and a 200 day moving average of $104.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $113.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $86.81 and a 12 month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (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%. Equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given 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 yield of 3.51%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was 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 bought 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.