Plato Investment Management Ltd Purchases 11,617 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Plato Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 74.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,128 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,617 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,804,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after acquiring an additional 408,304 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,350,645 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 648,432 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,389,862,000 after purchasing an additional 193,401 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP opened at $127.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $153.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $114.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $116.92. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.42 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $143.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Capital One Financial reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.48.

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.