West Tower Group LLC Buys 1,600 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

West Tower Group LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 61.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,200 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the period. West Tower Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised 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 in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,324,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on COP shares. Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price objective for the company. 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. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.05.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $100.51 on Wednesday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $99.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.56.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.