CENTRAL TRUST Co Lowers Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 72,709 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 2,614 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $7,636,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 86,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $9,070,000 after purchasing an additional 5,214 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 8.9% in the first quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,613 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $379,000 after buying an additional 296 shares during the last quarter. Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 23.1% in the first quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 5,833 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $613,000 after buying an additional 1,096 shares in the last quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. AA Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Inscription Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,591,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.30.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $95.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $120.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $118.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.16 and its 200-day moving average is $95.70.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. The firm had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.64%.

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.