Hennessy Advisors Inc. Acquires 5,279 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 36,324 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,279 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $105.76 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $103.91 and its 200 day moving average is $107.53.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on COP shares. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.