Trust Co. of Vermont Purchases New Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,372 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,494,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the 4th 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 increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during 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. lifted 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 lifted 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $143.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.48.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $129.82 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $114.31 and a 200-day moving average of $117.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $155.96 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.11. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $85.57 and a 52-week high of $135.87.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. 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 payout ratio is currently 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.