Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 3,217 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Park Avenue Securities LLC cut its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,077 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 3,217 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kathmere Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Kathmere Capital Management LLC now owns 3,118 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $438,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 266.1% in the 4th quarter. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 10,913 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 7,932 shares in the last quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 43.0% in the 4th quarter. Peoples Financial Services CORP. now owns 2,636 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the period. Finally, Crestmont Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 62.2% during the 4th quarter. Crestmont Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,563 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $552,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This trade 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 16th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an "outperform" rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE COP traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $105.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,546,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,865,516. The firm has a market cap of $121.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.58, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $103.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

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

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

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