Quilter Plc Cuts Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Quilter Plc lowered its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 12.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,931 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 4,010 shares during the period. Quilter Plc’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after buying an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 5.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,986,970 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,907,542,000 after acquiring an additional 826,529 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,412,753 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $860,398,000 after acquiring an additional 191,519 shares during the period. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 6,079,041 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $705,594,000 after purchasing an additional 211,257 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $103.50 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $121.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $101.29 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $110.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.73.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.27%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on COP. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Mizuho dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $142.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.24.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.