Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 13,775 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Retirement Systems of Alabama lessened its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862,165 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 13,775 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama owned approximately 0.07% of ConocoPhillips worth $77,371,000 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 COP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,210,751,000 after acquiring an additional 31,736,423 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 1st quarter worth approximately $658,981,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 190.5% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,664,408 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $484,539,000 after acquiring an additional 3,058,505 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $942,297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,080,625 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 53.8% during the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,240,275 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $550,334,000 after acquiring an additional 1,834,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on COP. Capital One Financial upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $112.00 in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Melius Research started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.63.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $87.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $115.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $92.94 and its 200 day moving average is $92.00. The firm has a market cap of $109.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.62.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.39 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.