ConocoPhillips $COP Holdings Lifted by Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. grew its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 425.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,809 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,181 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,728,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 73.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,591,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,328,767,000 after buying an additional 50,116,727 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,886,457 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $9,760,436,000 after buying an additional 2,712,703 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,072,154 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,566,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609,759 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,044,489 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,457,978,000 after acquiring an additional 74,261 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,181,950 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,344,017,000 after acquiring an additional 995,392 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $142.06. 2,688,820 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,046,035. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.57 and a twelve month high of $143.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.22. The firm has a market cap of $170.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.24.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%. The business had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.79 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.84 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This represents a 49.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $159.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Zacks Research raised ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Freedom Capital raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.62.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas. Unlike integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips focuses primarily on upstream activities rather than refining and retail fuel operations.

The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in major producing regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Qatar. Its U.S. operations include oil and gas developments in Alaska and the Lower 48 states, while its international portfolio includes conventional and offshore projects.