Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Boosts Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 202.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,229 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,502 shares during the period. Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 45.8% in the first quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 261 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 2,232 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $291,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Adirondack Trust Co. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 2,990 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $336,000 after buying an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayfair Advisory Group LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.5% during the first quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,627 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of COP opened at $102.56 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $110.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.82. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market capitalization of $119.95 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.42 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $142.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $159.00 target price (up previously from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.24.

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.