B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Reduces Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG trimmed its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 33.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 65,323 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 32,413 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 103,553 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $10,902,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.8% during the fourth quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 19,166 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,901,000 after buying an additional 7,174 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 8,855 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $878,000 after buying an additional 383 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,474,270 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $155,211,000 after acquiring an additional 32,948 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 186,535 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $18,499,000 after acquiring an additional 22,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on COP shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $105.04 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $86.81 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $98.94 and its 200 day moving average is $103.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.97%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

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.