ARGA Investment Management LP Purchases 4,362 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

ARGA Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 34.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,128 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 4,362 shares during the period. ARGA Investment Management LP's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,799,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 5,549,078 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,101,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,027 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the 4th 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, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,939 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $122.15.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE COP traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.66. 4,903,410 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,648,450. The stock has a market cap of $120.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.61. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $118.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $90.58 and a 200-day moving average of $94.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.74 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 16.02%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson acquired 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $94.24 per share, for a total transaction of $499,472.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. This represents a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.