Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,797 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 100 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in 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 during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.3% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $717,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,685 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $567,111,000 after buying an additional 415,878 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COP. Mizuho lifted their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, September 13th. Six 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $112.92 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.77 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.90. The stock has a market cap of $129.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $101.29 and a 1-year high of $135.18.

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

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.