XML Financial LLC Acquires 4,614 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

XML Financial LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 72.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,981 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,614 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd 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 period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered 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. Two 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.00.

Insider Activity

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $103.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $118.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $103.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.25. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $94.23 and a 1 year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

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.