Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 10,326 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. decreased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 73,886 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 10,326 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,631,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,382,724 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,623,946,000 after purchasing an additional 287,970 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,610,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,319,746,000 after purchasing an additional 437,709 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.6% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,393,875 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,291,706,000 after purchasing an additional 224,201 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,778,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $966,267,000 after buying an additional 2,575,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,883,455 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $707,461,000 after buying an additional 3,135,315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. UBS Group increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 8th. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Finally, Capital One Financial upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $114.54.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $94.25 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $89.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $116.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.32. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $106.20.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.51 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 14.25%.The business’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.78 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 47.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director William H. Mcraven purchased 5,768 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $86.68 per share, for a total transaction of $499,970.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,970.24. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

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.