Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 6,034 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.3% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 88,282 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,034 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $11,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AXA S.A. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 91.1% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,622,000 after purchasing an additional 40,499 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 784,368 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $70,397,000 after purchasing an additional 44,852 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter worth about $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 53.5% during the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Argus boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $143.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of COP stock opened at $109.06 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $112.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $132.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.12. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 9.28 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 57.05%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.