Alhambra Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Alhambra Investment Management LLC lifted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 38.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,815 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Alhambra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 50.7% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 22,257 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,207,000 after buying an additional 7,491 shares in the last quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 2,066 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 932 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 6,583 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $653,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Two 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $105.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $121.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $103.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

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.