Cullen Investment Group LTD. Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,312 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $384,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 4,885 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC now owns 3,767 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 26,305 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,053,000 after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 637,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $73,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors now owns 7,383 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $857,000 after acquiring an additional 2,768 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total transaction of $5,574,064.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,153 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,947.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total transaction of $76,427,370.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total value of $5,574,064.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 44,153 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,947.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Barclays started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $158.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.59.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of COP stock opened at $130.25 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $95.70 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $153.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $119.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $116.86.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.21 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.40%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 25.61%.

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.