Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 411,701 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,291 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $47,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gilbert & Cook Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,438 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares in the last quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 3,612 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $419,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 196.5% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 9,846 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,123,000 after acquiring an additional 6,525 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at $2,715,000. Finally, Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 8,454 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $981,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $159.00 price objective (up from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. UBS Group decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $142.29.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $110.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $127.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $109.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.53. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

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.