Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. Reduces Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Stegent Equity Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 14,559 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 644 shares during the period. ConocoPhillips accounts for about 1.7% of Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Stegent Equity Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,665,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the 1st 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. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 108,956 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,986,970 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,907,542,000 after acquiring an additional 826,529 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,011,035 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,394,162,000 after acquiring an additional 270,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $159.00 target price (up previously from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, May 30th. StockNews.com cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $142.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Scotiabank dropped 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 note on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP traded down $0.58 on Friday, reaching $113.79. The stock had a trading volume of 5,559,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,694,506. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.73 and a 200 day moving average of $117.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.08 billion, a PE ratio of 12.89, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.24. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $102.27 and a twelve month high of $135.18. 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 (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The company 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 revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.5 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.