ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,835 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,323,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings 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 valued at $4,097,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $409,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,158 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 34.7% in the first quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,762,431 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $351,602,000 after purchasing an additional 712,062 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 239.1% during the first quarter. Natixis now owns 785,797 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $100,016,000 after buying an additional 554,078 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on COP shares. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $144.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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. 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 price objective on the stock. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.94.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:COP traded down $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.67. The company had a trading volume of 4,326,673 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,149,196. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $122.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $101.29 and a 1-year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 25.86%.

ConocoPhillips 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.