Keating Investment Counselors Inc. Has $721,000 Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Keating Investment Counselors Inc. lowered its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,266 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Keating Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $721,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake 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 worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third 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. grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

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 acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.56.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $96.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $100.44 and a 200 day moving average of $105.69.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders 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 3.24%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 40.05%.

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.