Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Increases Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 35.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,612 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 425 shares during the quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $187,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.8% in the third quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 3,305 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.5% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 18,944 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the third quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,055 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Your Advocates Ltd. LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.9% in the third quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 3,340 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total value of $76,427,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total value of $76,427,370.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total value of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $293,399.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169 over the last three months. 0.34% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.0 %

NYSE:COP opened at $124.36 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $95.70 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a market cap of $146.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $123.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released 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. The business had revenue of $15.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.47 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.71 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 9.11 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 25.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COP. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $139.00 target price (up from $132.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.65.

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.