Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Lowers Stock Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. reduced its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 67.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,142,533 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 2,349,153 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned about 0.09% of ConocoPhillips worth $106,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,318,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037,873 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 31.4% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,778,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $966,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575,803 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $979,102,000 after buying an additional 2,467,555 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at approximately $135,265,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 146.6% during the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,315,757 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $207,816,000 after buying an additional 1,376,509 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 8,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $1,003,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,984 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,893,431.36. This trade represents a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total value of $4,128,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 17,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. This represents a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 613,970 shares of company stock worth $77,318,902. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on COP shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Capital One Financial increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.38.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $127.16 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $128.36. The firm has a market cap of $157.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $98.07.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.