SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. Buys 7,932 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 266.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,913 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,932 shares during the period. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,083,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $136.65.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.6 %

COP stock opened at $104.83 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $107.56. The company has a market cap of $120.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 37.10%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips 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 transaction, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % 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.

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.