Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,397,339 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 104,878 shares during the quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $215,137,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,210,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,736,423 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,610,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,319,746,000 after buying an additional 437,709 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $942,297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,080,625 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,202,861 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $861,490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,073,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 1st quarter valued at $658,981,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 20th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.67.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $86.82 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.43 billion, a PE ratio of 11.65, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.58. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $115.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The firm had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.78 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 41.88%.

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.