Hickory Asset Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 3,325 ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Hickory Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 3,325 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COP. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew 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 worth $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $96.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $110.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $100.58 and its 200 day moving average is $105.85. 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.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.56.

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.