Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC Buys 25,173 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 515.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 30,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,173 shares during the quarter. Alpine Woods Capital Investors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,981,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE COP opened at $96.27 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.97. The stock has a market cap of $122.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $86.81 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. On average, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.24%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.05.

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.