Capital Advantage Inc. Acquires New Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Capital Advantage Inc. bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund bought 2,634 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,474,270 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $155,211,000 after buying an additional 32,948 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 3,498 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Fortem Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth about $314,000. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.0% in the 4th quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 2,482 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $246,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 11,833 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on COP shares. Bank of America downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Raymond James lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.79.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $87.74 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average is $93.42 and its 200 day moving average is $99.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $124.94.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.05%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.