Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Lowers Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lessened its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,382 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 3,340 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vicus Capital lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,637 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $302,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.5% during the second quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 3,900 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Excalibur Management Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 4,037 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 36,739 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,202,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. Finally, Bank OZK increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank OZK now owns 6,251 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 97 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.5 %

COP stock opened at $112.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $101.29 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $108.01 and a 200-day moving average of $111.78.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.