ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Ameriprise Financial Inc.

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,128,955 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 528,323 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.62% of ConocoPhillips worth $706,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $12,081,491,000 after acquiring an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,546,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,078 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211,939 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $2,792,521,000 after buying an additional 3,397,360 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Susquehanna set a $136.00 target price on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Finally, Raymond James cut ConocoPhillips from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.89.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $88.58. 7,568,420 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,285,735. The company has a market cap of $111.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.37, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $99.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $122.56.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $16.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is 39.64%.

ConocoPhillips 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.