NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Raises Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,351 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,102 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $5,192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 3,397,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 2,971,661 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on COP shares. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.63.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $86.62. The stock had a trading volume of 8,633,621 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,399,958. The company has a market capitalization of $109.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $90.13 and a 200-day moving average of $97.05. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $118.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.74 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

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.