Vise Technologies Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Vise Technologies Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 37.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 48,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,006 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $4,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after acquiring an additional 408,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,318,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037,873 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,228,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $979,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467,555 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Freedom Capital cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total transaction of $15,025,558.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,448,500. The trade was a 24.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $4,128,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 694,891 shares of company stock worth $88,594,092. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $117.10 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $85.57 and a 12 month high of $135.87. The stock has a market cap of $142.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $122.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.43.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 57.05%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.