Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires New Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 62,400 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $8,237,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 21,144 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,791,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,352 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $989,000 after acquiring an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,370 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,570 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,018 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $106.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $129.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.11. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $117.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $111.85. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $85.57 and a 52 week high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 57.05%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total transaction of $15,025,558.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $46,448,500. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.32.

Key Headlines Impacting ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roth Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips to Buy from Neutral, which can support investor confidence in the stock. Roth Capital Upgrades ConocoPhillips (COP) to Buy. Here is Why
• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips was named to RBC Capital’s June Global Energy Best Ideas list, reinforcing the view that analysts see upside potential in the name. ConocoPhillips (COP) Named to RBC Capital’s June Global Energy Best Ideas List
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced it will host its second-quarter earnings conference call on Aug. 6, keeping attention on upcoming results and guidance. ConocoPhillips to hold second-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Aug. 6
• Negative Sentiment: Broader oil-and-gas shares fell after crude dropped to its lowest level since the start of the Iran conflict, as easing geopolitical risk and resumed tanker traffic pressured oil prices and upstream producers like COP. TechnipFMC and Valaris Shares Plummet, What You Need To Know

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.