ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stake Boosted by Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 265.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 138,713 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 100,806 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $13,762,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,399 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,540,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 512,126 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $51,213,000 after buying an additional 9,313 shares during the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.1% during the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,810 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 672 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 21.3% during the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 14,063 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,406,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the last quarter. 80.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $143.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.42.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $122.72 on Monday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $91.53 and a 12 month high of $138.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.63. The firm has a market cap of $146.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy producer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.10). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.66% and a return on equity of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $12.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were paid a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 27th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.66%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 19.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 569,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total transaction of $69,546,516.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,221,360.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Company 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 and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.