Apexium Financial LP Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Apexium Financial LP purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,106 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 24,490 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 17.4% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 22,414 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,319 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 46.2% in the fourth quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 15,804 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,567,000 after buying an additional 4,997 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter worth $250,000. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 27.2% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 12,967 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,286,000 after buying an additional 2,770 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on COP shares. Scotiabank cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $135.89.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $102.73 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $118.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $102.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.06.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 37.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the company’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 transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.