Ascent Group LLC Has $2.24 Million Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Ascent Group LLC lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,623 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,367 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,097,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,132,430,000 after purchasing an additional 438,241 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,412,753 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $860,398,000 after purchasing an additional 191,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 6,079,041 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $705,594,000 after buying an additional 211,257 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4 %

COP stock opened at $104.72 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day moving average of $108.85 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.31. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Argus raised shares of ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $141.24.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.