Howard Capital Management Inc. Acquires 1,348 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,396 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $932,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $10,902,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,901,000 after buying an additional 7,174 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $878,000 after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 23.6% in the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,595 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after acquiring an additional 46,621 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COP. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $97.90 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.57, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $94.23 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $100.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.43.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. On average, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 40.05%.

ConocoPhillips 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.