RiverFront Investment Group LLC Has $391,000 Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 15.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,939 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $391,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $10,902,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after acquiring an additional 7,174 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $878,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,474,270 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $155,211,000 after purchasing an additional 32,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 186,535 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $18,499,000 after purchasing an additional 22,378 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $102.37 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $86.81 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $130.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. 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 fifty day moving average is $98.95 and its 200-day moving average is $103.27.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.