Treasurer of the State of North Carolina Acquires 99,714 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 19.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 612,020 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 99,714 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $60,694,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,792,521,000 after buying an additional 3,397,360 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after buying an additional 4,211,939 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,420,058 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,430,034,000 after acquiring an additional 862,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $91.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $116.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.35. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.84.

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.