Keynote Financial Services LLC Buys Shares of 2,938 ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Keynote Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,938 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $374,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the first 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,672,104 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,211,901,000 after acquiring an additional 108,956 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.8% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,986,970 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,907,542,000 after purchasing an additional 826,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,011,035 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,394,162,000 after purchasing an additional 270,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COP shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $159.00 target price (up previously from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 15th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.06.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP traded down $2.62 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $105.77. 7,445,068 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,694,223. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $103.98 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $112.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.06 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.73 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

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, 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.