South Dakota Investment Council Sells 38,749 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 11.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 303,803 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 38,749 shares during the quarter. ConocoPhillips makes up about 0.8% of South Dakota Investment Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $40,102,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. AXA S.A. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 91.1% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% in the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 784,368 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $70,397,000 after acquiring an additional 44,852 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 53.5% during the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on COP shares. Roth Capital upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.16.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $118.17 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $85.57 and a 12 month high of $135.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.74.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.