Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Buys 30,042 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Crossmark Global Holdings increased its ConocoPhillips stake by 26.6% in the fourth quarter, buying 30,042 shares and bringing its total holding to 142,784 shares valued at about $13.4 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on COP, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.04, though Freedom Capital recently downgraded the stock to hold.
• ConocoPhillips reported better-than-expected Q1 earnings of $1.89 per share on revenue of $15.76 billion and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share, implying a 3.0% annualized yield.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 26.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 142,784 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 30,042 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $13,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,570 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,018 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $751,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 7,160 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,231 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $108.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Freedom Capital cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $133.04.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $113.76 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $138.59 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.14. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $84.28 and a 12-month high of $135.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $122.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $105.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. ConocoPhillips's revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.05%.

Trending Headlines about ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Norway approved ConocoPhillips’ plan to restart and redevelop long-idle oil and gas fields in the Greater Ekofisk area, a project expected to increase gas deliveries to Europe and benefit from stronger European energy security demand. Article: ConocoPhillips gets Norway's nod to restart fields, boost Europe gas supply
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s North Sea revival plan could unlock new gas volumes for Germany, the UK, and other European markets, reinforcing COP’s exposure to a potentially stronger gas pricing backdrop. Article: ConocoPhillips North Sea Revival Ties Undervalued Stock To European Gas Demand
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors are also parsing analyst questions from COP’s recent Q1 earnings call, suggesting the market is still focused on management’s guidance, capital plans, and the durability of the company’s earnings outlook. Article: The 5 most interesting analyst questions from ConocoPhillips’s Q1 earnings call
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Capital downgraded ConocoPhillips from strong-buy to hold, which can weigh on sentiment and offset some of the optimism from the Norway project. Article: ConocoPhillips was downgraded by Freedom Capital from strong-buy to hold

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.79, for a total transaction of $4,751,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 411,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,847,754.69. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total transaction of $1,733,345.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,389 shares in the company, valued at $1,478,751.04. The trade was a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips NYSE: COP is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company's activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.

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