Waverly Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 293.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,420 shares of the energy producer's stock after buying an additional 28,660 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,810,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $12,081,491,000 after buying an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised 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 valued at $4,546,706,000 after buying an additional 5,549,078 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position 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 valued at $1,544,101,000 after buying an additional 4,211,939 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $2,792,521,000 after buying an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,364,364,000 after buying an additional 2,971,661 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of several analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.89.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.2%

COP stock traded up $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $85.40. The company had a trading volume of 1,954,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,368,673. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $107.96 billion, a PE ratio of 10.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $91.82 and a 200 day moving average of $97.98. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $119.23.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. The business had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.74 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 EPS. On average, equities 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 will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is presently 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.