Lawood & Co. Purchases 14,937 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Lawood & Co. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 246.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 21,007 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,937 shares during the period. ConocoPhillips makes up 1.6% of Lawood & Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Lawood & Co.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,629,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. Patten Group Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.5% during the first quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 5,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 20,182 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 21,144 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.6% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 16,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,120,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $134.50. 1,713,600 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,101,435. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $129.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $121.96. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $85.57 and a 52 week high of $141.62.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.68 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This trade represents a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on COP. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial restated an “underperform” rating and set a $168.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Roth Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.29.

ConocoPhillips Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas. Unlike integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips focuses primarily on upstream activities rather than refining and retail fuel operations.

The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in major producing regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Qatar. Its U.S. operations include oil and gas developments in Alaska and the Lower 48 states, while its international portfolio includes conventional and offshore projects.