Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 167,800 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 14.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,332,882 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 167,800 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned approximately 0.11% of ConocoPhillips worth $126,086,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 58.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at $36,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Susquehanna increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.54.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $117.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $144.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $104.71 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $96.34. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $122.50.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total transaction of $46,315,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 325,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 40,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.79, for a total value of $4,751,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 411,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,847,754.69. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.