Foster Group Inc. Has $2.01 Million Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Foster Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,304 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 272 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,014,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COP. Albion Financial Group UT raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 876.9% during the 4th quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 254 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth approximately $31,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 80.5% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 343 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Susquehanna increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $135.89.

Insider Activity

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % 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 Stock Down 1.2 %

COP opened at $101.46 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $116.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $94.23 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $102.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.98.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.10%.

ConocoPhillips 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.