Prospera Financial Services Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 11.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,538 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 10,396 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $9,512,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 136.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 315 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 249.5% during the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 325 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $107.50 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $108.89. The business has a fifty day moving average of $97.24 and a 200-day moving average of $93.89. The stock has a market cap of $132.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 0.32.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Johnson Rice downgraded ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Susquehanna upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total value of $46,315,490.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.