Cerity Partners LLC Raises Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 20.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 406,580 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 68,702 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $42,699,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of COP. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $12,081,491,000 after acquiring an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,546,706,000 after acquiring an additional 5,549,078 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,544,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $2,792,521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,360 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,364,364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,971,661 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of COP stock opened at $95.66 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $118.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $90.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.61.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 16.02%. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.26%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is 39.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on COP. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $117.00 price objective (up previously from $113.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.15.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson bought 5,300 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $94.24 per share, with a total value of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,024.48. This represents a 57.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.

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