Choate Investment Advisors Buys 4,003 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Choate Investment Advisors raised its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 68,211 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,003 shares during the quarter. Choate Investment Advisors’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in 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 buying an additional 10,663,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,601,639,000 after purchasing an additional 924,289 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,366,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324,771 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506,599 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Raymond James lowered shares of 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 research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.05.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 3.0 %

COP stock opened at $99.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.81. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $126.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 40.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, 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 currently owned by company insiders.

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.