21,057 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP Acquired by Sanders Morris Harris LLC

Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 21,057 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,643,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adirondack Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 225.9% during the 3rd quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 8,715 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 6,041 shares in the last quarter. Aspen Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 25.2% in the third quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 160,324 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $22,143,000 after buying an additional 32,302 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 135.4% in the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 9,938 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,244,000 after buying an additional 5,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JM2 Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at $772,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on COP. Zacks Research raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.29.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock traded up $1.44 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $142.34. 5,667,004 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,073,596. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.00 billion, a PE ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.24. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.57 and a twelve month high of $142.55. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $130.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.15.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%. The business had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.84 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,493.95. This 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 can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About ConocoPhillips

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.