Vanguard Group Inc. Grows Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 121,148,190 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 279,625 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of ConocoPhillips worth $10,871,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 85,254 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $8,953,000 after acquiring an additional 5,874 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the first quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 10,606 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,113 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 16.1% in the first quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 42,965 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,512,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares during the period. OneAscent Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 63.7% in the first quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 5,116 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 1,990 shares during the period. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 13,078 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Barclays cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.33.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director William H. Mcraven acquired 5,768 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $86.68 per share, for a total transaction of $499,970.24. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 5,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $499,970.24. This trade represents a ? increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 2.6%

NYSE:COP opened at $88.95 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $109.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.58. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $115.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $91.94.

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

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

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

ConocoPhillips 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.