Narus Financial Partners LLC Buys New Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Narus Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 3,292 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.0% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,399 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 512,126 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $51,213,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.1% during the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,810 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $181,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 21.3% in the 1st quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 14,063 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $122.32 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.48 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $114.96 and its 200 day moving average is $106.86. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $91.53 and a fifty-two week high of $138.49.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy producer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.10). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.66% and a return on equity of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $12.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.91 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.87 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 27th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 19.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on COP. Wolfe Research raised ConocoPhillips from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, August 14th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $140.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $143.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 569,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $69,546,516.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 18,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,221,360.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

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 and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.