ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Now Covered by Melius

Melius initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $117.00 target price on the energy producer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on COP. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.95.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.2%

COP stock opened at $94.8410 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.33. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $116.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.45 billion, a PE ratio of 12.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.67.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 41.88%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson purchased 5,300 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $94.24 per share, for a total transaction of $499,472.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,024.48. This trade represents a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 111.9% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 30,460 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,020,000 after acquiring an additional 16,086 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 889,133 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $88,175,000 after purchasing an additional 95,090 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 7,148 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $709,000 after purchasing an additional 1,439 shares in the last quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,124 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,004,000 after buying an additional 848 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Investment Services LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $820,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.