Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. Buys 142 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,790 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 3,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 168,719 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $17,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,838 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 1,655 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 166 shares during the last quarter. InvesTrust bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth about $297,000. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 3,216 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $319,000 after buying an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This represents a 13.16 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.65.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $105.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $104.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.56. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $94.23 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $121.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

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.