Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Increases Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 21.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,777 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the quarter. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 7,174 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after buying an additional 13,595 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after buying an additional 46,621 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $96.99 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.28. The company has a market capitalization of $123.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.22%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on COP. Morgan Stanley began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James lowered ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips 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.