Regal Partners Ltd Decreases Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Regal Partners Ltd reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 87.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,592 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 114,672 shares during the period. Regal Partners Ltd’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew 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 worth $4,097,473,000 after buying an additional 8,479,963 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,634.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,205,666 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $126,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,434 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.3% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $717,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 46.0% during the first 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Six research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.47.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE COP opened at $111.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $128.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $101.29 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a 50-day moving average of $107.71 and a 200-day moving average of $111.90.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

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.