Sanctuary Advisors LLC Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 253,242 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,042 shares during the quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $25,694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $128.00 price objective on the stock. Susquehanna raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. 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 note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $133.56.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of COP traded down $4.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.90. 8,561,843 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,781,136. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.18. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a PE ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.44.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. On average, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.