ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by VestGen Investment Management

VestGen Investment Management trimmed its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,292 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 175 shares during the quarter. VestGen Investment Management’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $206,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COP. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.0% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 738,540 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $77,835,000 after acquiring an additional 54,916 shares during the period. CFM Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 7.3% during the first quarter. CFM Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,522 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 720 shares during the period. Convergence Financial LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter worth about $253,000. TBH Global Asset Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 50.9% during the first quarter. TBH Global Asset Management LLC now owns 25,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,688,000 after buying an additional 8,638 shares during the period. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 77.8% during the first quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 14,852 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 6,498 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $88.01 on Monday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $115.38. The company has a market capitalization of $109.92 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 0.62. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.98.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 41.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on COP. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $124.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.63.

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.