ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock Holdings Raised by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 390,631 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,220 shares during the quarter. ConocoPhillips comprises about 1.4% of Conning Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Conning Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $41,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,546,706,000 after buying an additional 5,549,078 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,101,989,000 after buying an additional 1,473,027 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,792,521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,939 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson bought 5,300 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $94.24 per share, with a total value of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. This represents a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COP. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target (up previously from $103.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.80.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE COP opened at $94.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.27. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $118.40. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $90.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $94.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.61.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.74 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 16.02%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

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.