Cullen Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Cullen Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,268,684 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 11,503 shares during the quarter. Cullen Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of ConocoPhillips worth $125,815,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. KCM Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.2% in the 4th quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,614 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,152,000 after buying an additional 1,351 shares in the last quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at $37,494,000. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. Prudential PLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 149.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 18,924 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,877,000 after acquiring an additional 11,345 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unison Advisors LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 17,145 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,700,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on COP. Raymond James cut ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $126.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 9.5 %

COP opened at $86.18 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.55 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $98.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.06, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

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.