Sittner & Nelson LLC Acquires 789 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 27.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,692 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 789 shares during the quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $331,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 379.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,210,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,736,423 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,610,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,319,746,000 after buying an additional 437,709 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $942,297,000 after buying an additional 2,080,625 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 15.1% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,202,861 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $861,490,000 after buying an additional 1,073,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.8% in the second quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,411,539 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $576,332,000 after acquiring an additional 232,117 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on COP. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Capital One Financial lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $112.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Roth Capital reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.33.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $89.38 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $115.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $90.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The company had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.52%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director William H. Mcraven purchased 5,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $86.68 per share, with a total value of $499,970.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 5,768 shares in the company, valued at $499,970.24. The trade was a ? increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.