AIA Group Ltd Raises Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

AIA Group Ltd grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,718 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,494 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in 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 buying an additional 8,479,963 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in 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. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of 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. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,709,604 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $653,065,000 after purchasing an additional 109,885 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $567,111,000 after purchasing an additional 415,878 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $111.63 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $101.29 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $128.48 billion, a PE ratio of 13.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 27.59%.

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.