Retirement Planning Group LLC Makes New $1.25 Million Investment in ConocoPhillips $COP

Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 13,255 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,254,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 136.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 315 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 249.5% in the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 325 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $111.76.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP opened at $100.32 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $123.97 billion, a PE ratio of 14.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $92.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.80. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $106.20.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 14.25%.The business had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director William H. Mcraven bought 5,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $86.68 per share, with a total value of $499,970.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 5,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,970.24. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total transaction of $46,315,490.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 325,972 shares in the company, valued at $30,152,410. This represents a 60.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.