Prudential Financial Inc. Grows Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,690,466 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 33,503 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of ConocoPhillips worth $167,644,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Albion Financial Group UT increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 876.9% in the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 254 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth $31,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COP shares. Barclays decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.05.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $102.05 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $99.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.37. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $86.81 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The company has a market cap of $129.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. Sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

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.