Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 20,791 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,062,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cypress Capital Group raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 0.5% during the third quarter. Cypress Capital Group now owns 18,790 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,978,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,342 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.3% during the third quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 3,132 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,255 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,695,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the third quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,137 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $541,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $98.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.36. The company has a market cap of $125.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired 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 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the firm’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 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. 0.34% of the stock is owned by 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.