ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.

Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. cut its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 21.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,557 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 688 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,210,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,736,423 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,610,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,319,746,000 after purchasing an additional 437,709 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $942,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080,625 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,202,861 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $861,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at about $658,981,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on COP shares. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $113.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and set a $123.00 price target (up from $119.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.14.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.2%

COP stock opened at $92.11 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $116.08. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.69.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 41.88%.

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.