Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 65.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,641 shares of the energy producer's stock after acquiring an additional 7,775 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,948,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of COP. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,342 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,255 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $3,695,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC now owns 8,640 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $857,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Gray Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,171 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Plancorp LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 4,018 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on COP. Morgan Stanley upped 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. Raymond James reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $109.00 target price (up from $103.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.89.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, hitting $84.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,758,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,387,219. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $91.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.80. The firm has a market cap of $107.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $118.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is 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.