Portfolio Design Labs LLC Cuts Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Portfolio Design Labs LLC cut its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 31,444 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 359 shares during the quarter. Portfolio Design Labs LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Raymond James cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Susquehanna boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.72.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $101.72 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.08 billion, a PE ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $94.23 and a 1-year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. As a group, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.