Madison Investment Advisors LLC Takes $24.64 Million Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 248,409 shares of the energy producer's stock, valued at approximately $24,635,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 valued at $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after buying an additional 1,324,771 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the 3rd 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. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on COP. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $128.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James cut shares of 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.47.

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ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $97.64 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $86.81 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The company's 50-day moving average is $99.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market cap of $124.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. Research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was 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.

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.

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