ConocoPhillips $COP Position Trimmed by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lowered its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 303,559 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 11,190 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $27,241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COP. Advisory Resource Group raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.7% during the second quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 233,451 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $20,950,000 after purchasing an additional 3,863 shares during the period. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at $209,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,681 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $600,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 309,613 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $27,785,000 after buying an additional 17,839 shares during the period. Finally, Empower Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 6.2% during the second quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 749,619 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $67,271,000 after buying an additional 43,841 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Susquehanna decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director William H. Mcraven purchased 5,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $86.68 per share, for a total transaction of $499,970.24. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,768 shares in the company, valued at $499,970.24. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $91.44 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $90.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $91.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $115.38. The stock has a market cap of $112.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.27, a PEG ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.58.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.51 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.78 EPS. Analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

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.