Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,967,794 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 184,630 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned about 0.24% of ConocoPhillips worth $308,532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after purchasing an additional 408,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,407,770,000 after acquiring an additional 648,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on COP shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.48.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $129.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $114.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.12. The company has a market capitalization of $155.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $85.57 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. The business had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.