12,874 Shares in ConocoPhillips $COP Acquired by Zhang Financial LLC

Key Points

• Zhang Financial LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter, acquiring 12,874 shares valued at about $1.7 million.
• Institutional ownership in ConocoPhillips remains very high, with 82.36% of the stock held by institutions. Several large funds also increased their positions in recent quarters.
• ConocoPhillips recently beat quarterly earnings estimates, posting $1.89 EPS versus the expected $1.72, and it continues to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share for an annualized yield of about 2.9%.

Zhang Financial LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 12,874 shares of the energy producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,699,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after purchasing an additional 408,304 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,527,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,663 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,880,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,645 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,407,770,000 after purchasing an additional 648,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after purchasing an additional 193,401 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on COP. Piper Sandler raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $143.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, May 18th. Capital One Financial reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.6%

NYSE:COP opened at $114.70 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $85.57 and a 1 year high of $135.87. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $139.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.37.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company's revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is presently 57.05%.

Key ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips agreed to acquire a 42% stake in BP’s Iraq venture, increasing its exposure to the Kirkuk oilfields and more than 3 billion barrels of recoverable resources. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s Iraq agreement is part of a broader wave of U.S. corporate commitments to support Iraqi energy development, which may signal additional international growth potential. Financial Post article
• Positive Sentiment: Energy shares were broadly stronger, helping support ConocoPhillips alongside a sector-wide move higher. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports noted that COP tends to move with crude oil prices, so commodity trends remain an important near-term driver for the stock. Kalkine Media article

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips NYSE: COP is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company's activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.

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