Great Lakes Advisors LLC Makes New $115.37 Million Investment in ConocoPhillips $COP

Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,109,766 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $115,372,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of COP. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 151.0% during the 1st quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ballast Advisors LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Allied Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on COP. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, August 7th. Freedom Capital raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.48.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.8%

NYSE:COP opened at $129.82 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.12. The stock has a market cap of $155.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $85.57 and a 12 month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.44%.

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.