Kentucky Retirement Systems Cuts Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems lessened its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 80,899 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 7,233 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $8,517,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,097,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,634.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,205,666 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $126,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,434 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.3% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $717,093,000 after buying an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price target (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $112.32 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $111.78. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $101.29 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 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 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

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.