Columbia Trust Co 01012016 Boosts Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Columbia Trust Co 01012016 grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,463 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,964,432,000 after buying an additional 3,497,750 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,486,871 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,495,927,000 after purchasing an additional 386,276 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,028,061 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,440,962,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152,907 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 98,832.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,584,373 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,012,956,000 after purchasing an additional 8,575,696 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,063,795 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $968,410,000 after buying an additional 659,632 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP traded down $0.21 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $126.02. 5,203,057 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,827,312. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $95.60 and a 1 year high of $127.35. The stock has a market cap of $148.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.98.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.79 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on COP. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $139.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Johnson Rice downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $139.00 target price (up previously from $132.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total transaction of $502,781.40. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares in the company, valued at $293,399.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total transaction of $953,070.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total value of $502,781.40. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $293,399.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 700,775 shares of company stock valued at $87,615,169 over the last three months. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.