Sanders Morris Harris LLC Has $1.01 Million Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sanders Morris Harris LLC reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 63.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,224 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 17,588 shares during the period. Sanders Morris Harris LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. 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 acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after buying an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,311,369,000 after buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired 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 directly owns 38,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $136.65.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP traded up $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $105.62. The company had a trading volume of 5,272,235 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,594,242. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $94.23 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $121.56 billion, a PE ratio of 12.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $104.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.54.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

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.