ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 648,432 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,407,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.3% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 36,575 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,389,000 after buying an additional 5,657 shares during the period. Manchester Capital Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 192.6% during the fourth quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 4,649 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 3,060 shares during the last quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter worth approximately $297,000. Fiera Capital Corp increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 27,950 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CNB Bank increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. CNB Bank now owns 11,864 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $117.10 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $122.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $85.57 and a 1-year high of $135.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Argus upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 7,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.03, for a total transaction of $1,001,231.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 25,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,287,678.52. This represents a 23.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total transaction of $1,733,345.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,751.04. The trade was a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 686,391 shares of company stock worth $87,590,752 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips 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.