Heritage Investors Management Corp Trims Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Heritage Investors Management Corp reduced its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,032 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 5,894 shares during the quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $26,272,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $11,256,713,000 after purchasing an additional 408,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,527,230,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,663 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,407,770,000 after acquiring an additional 648,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $104.64 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $112.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $135.87. The firm has a market cap of $127.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.77, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 0.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.66 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.76.

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.