Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys 69,151 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 73.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 163,118 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,151 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $15,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,318,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037,873 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $979,102,000 after buying an additional 2,467,555 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after buying an additional 2,350,645 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,228,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at approximately $135,265,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total transaction of $64,495,368.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,835 shares in the company, valued at $869,822.10. This trade represents a 98.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 7,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.03, for a total value of $1,001,231.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,284 shares in the company, valued at $3,287,678.52. This trade represents a 23.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 634,715 shares of company stock worth $81,410,816 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP opened at $112.14 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $85.57 and a 52-week high of $135.87. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $120.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $136.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.05%.

ConocoPhillips News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips is betting on Alaska’s North Slope, where the $9 billion Willow project could eventually add about $4 billion in annual incremental cash flow and help the company double free cash flow by 2029. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports say ConocoPhillips is set to sign a deal with Syria’s new government to revive gas production, which could open a new source of growth and mark the first agreement by a U.S. energy major with Damascus. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The stock may also be attracting attention from traders after coverage of option strategies that point to elevated near-term volatility tied to oil prices. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Energy shares were hit after oil prices slumped on the U.S.-Iran deal, with ConocoPhillips among the stocks moving lower as investors priced in less geopolitical risk and potentially softer crude prices. Article Title

ConocoPhillips Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.