Bellwether Advisors LLC Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Bellwether Advisors LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 32.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,180 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $249,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in 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. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $433,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,165 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 3,931.3% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,455,878 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $185,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in 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 last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.65.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.5 %

COP stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $113.79. The company had a trading volume of 5,559,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,694,506. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $102.27 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.24.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

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.