Man Group plc Acquires Shares of 121,031 ConocoPhillips $COP

Man Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 121,031 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $12,582,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Patten Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.5% in the first quarter. Patten Group Inc. now owns 5,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. IFC Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. IFC Advisors LLC now owns 20,182 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 1,006 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $124,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 21,144 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,791,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Planning Corp grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.6% in the first quarter. Sigma Planning Corp now owns 16,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,120,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at $1,296,493.95. This trade represents a 49.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $143.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.29.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.8%

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $129.57 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $85.57 and a one year high of $135.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $118.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.42 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.55 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 44.44%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.