ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock Position Reduced by Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board decreased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 56.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,147 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 21,214 shares during the quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,700,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,132,430,000 after buying an additional 438,241 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $717,093,000 after buying an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $567,111,000 after acquiring an additional 415,878 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.1% in the second quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,546,526 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $405,652,000 after acquiring an additional 326,597 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on COP. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Barclays upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.3 %

COP opened at $113.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $130.55 billion, a PE ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $108.57 and its 200-day moving average is $111.48. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $101.29 and a one year high of $135.18.

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

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.10%.

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.