Essex Savings Bank Buys 812 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Essex Savings Bank grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,411 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 812 shares during the quarter. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 1,713 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 40.0% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 3,245 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 2,443 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $242,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.1% during the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 791 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 3,377 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $335,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.5 %

COP opened at $105.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $104.21 and a 200 day moving average of $107.56. 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 has a 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $121.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 37.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.65.

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.