Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,420,058 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 862,707 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 1.25% of ConocoPhillips worth $1,430,034,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,081,491,000 after buying an additional 12,751,120 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,366,640,000 after buying an additional 1,324,771 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.4 %

COP opened at $102.37 on Monday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $98.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.28. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $130.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

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 expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on COP. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Raymond James downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.95.

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.