Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 2,367 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Highland Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 100,523 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 2,367 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $9,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during 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 purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the 4th 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. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $135.89.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.1 %

COP stock opened at $101.49 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $102.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.90. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The company has a market cap of $116.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.16 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the acquisition, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate 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.