PAX Financial Group LLC Decreases Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

PAX Financial Group LLC cut its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,273 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 298 shares during the quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.0% during the first quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 4,043 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $515,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 14.6% during the first quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 17,222 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares in the last quarter. Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.7% during the first quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 388,700 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $49,474,000 after purchasing an additional 17,443 shares in the last quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.4% during the first quarter. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC now owns 18,755 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,387,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peak Asset Management LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the first quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 63,573 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $8,092,000 after purchasing an additional 2,379 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus raised ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com cut ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.24.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 1.3 %

COP stock traded down $1.49 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $110.83. 5,641,847 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,596,640. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.29. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $105.77 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.62 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.06 and a beta of 1.24.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The energy producer reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.99 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 18.40%. The firm had revenue of $14.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.72 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.