ConocoPhillips $COP Stock: State of Alaska Department of Revenue Raises Holdings

State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 114.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 324,995 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 173,673 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $40,673,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 73.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,591,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,328,767,000 after purchasing an additional 50,116,727 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,886,457 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $9,760,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712,703 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,072,154 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,566,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,759 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,413,036 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,255,594,000 after purchasing an additional 290,888 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,260,482,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.0%

NYSE:COP traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $142.31. The company had a trading volume of 2,583,432 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,044,803. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $85.57 and a fifty-two week high of $143.13. The firm has a market cap of $170.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.24. The business’s fifty day moving average is $131.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.22.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. The trade was a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $168.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Argus raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.62.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas. Unlike integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips focuses primarily on upstream activities rather than refining and retail fuel operations.

The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in major producing regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Qatar. Its U.S. operations include oil and gas developments in Alaska and the Lower 48 states, while its international portfolio includes conventional and offshore projects.