B.A. Schrock Wealth Management Inc. Makes New Investment in ConocoPhillips $COP

B.A. Schrock Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 6,831 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $855,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Financial Services LTD. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.8% during the third quarter. Howard Financial Services LTD. now owns 6,558 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares during the period. Ashurst Perkins Coie Trust Co bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth $1,105,000. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 34.9% in the third quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 14,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,663 shares during the period. Triangle Securities Wealth Management boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 28.5% during the third quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 14,565 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,823,000 after buying an additional 3,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 108.1% during the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 41,665 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $5,214,000 after buying an additional 21,644 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. The trade was a 49.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COP shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Argus upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.29.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of COP opened at $142.34 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $171.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.83, a PEG ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.24. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $85.57 and a one year high of $142.55. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.39.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 10.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas. Unlike integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips focuses primarily on upstream activities rather than refining and retail fuel operations.

The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in major producing regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Qatar. Its U.S. operations include oil and gas developments in Alaska and the Lower 48 states, while its international portfolio includes conventional and offshore projects.