Edge Capital Group LLC Buys 644 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Edge Capital Group LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,898 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the quarter. Edge Capital Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,072,000 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 grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after acquiring 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. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 4.0 %

COP opened at $97.90 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $100.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.43. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % 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 company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued 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 given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.