Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Buys 56,258 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 46.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 178,358 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 56,258 shares during the period. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $16,872,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COP. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.8% during the second quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,319 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,631,000 after buying an additional 1,874 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 11.5% in the 2nd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 69,265 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $6,216,000 after acquiring an additional 7,163 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 4,769 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 15.5% during the 2nd quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 2,966 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 14.5% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 845,654 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $77,792,000 after purchasing an additional 107,114 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total value of $46,315,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $108.74 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $108.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $134.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $96.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.21). The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on COP shares. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 16th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Capital One Financial lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $133.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.78.

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.