Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC Buys 5,080 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 40.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,521 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,080 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,738,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on COP. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.72.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 2.3 %

NYSE COP opened at $101.72 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $94.23 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $100.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.03. The company has a market cap of $117.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired 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. 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 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.