Patton Fund Management Inc. Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Patton Fund Management Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,989 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 116 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.0% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 25,399 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,540,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.9% during the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 512,126 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $51,213,000 after purchasing an additional 9,313 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.1% in the first quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 1,810 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $181,000 after acquiring an additional 672 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 21.3% in the first quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 14,063 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,406,000 after acquiring an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Raymond James dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Wolfe Research upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.11.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 569,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total transaction of $69,546,516.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,221,360.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP traded up $0.38 on Tuesday, hitting $124.86. The stock had a trading volume of 739,643 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,808,225. The stock has a market cap of $149.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.28, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $107.25. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $91.53 and a 52-week high of $138.49.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy producer reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $12.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 27.27% and a net margin of 18.66%. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 16th were given a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 27th. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.63%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 19.65%.

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 and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.