Hennessy Advisors Inc. Buys 5,279 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 17.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,324 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 5,279 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,602,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in 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 period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now 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 corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP traded up $0.15 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $105.76. The company had a trading volume of 8,546,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,479,072. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.18. 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's 50-day moving average price is $103.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.47. The firm has a market cap of $121.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on COP. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips 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.