Howard Financial Services LTD. Increases Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Howard Financial Services LTD. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 25.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,163 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 850 shares during the quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $413,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 80.5% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 343 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, 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 note on Thursday, December 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $105.76 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $121.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $103.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for 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%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

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.