Advisory Alpha LLC Sells 8,702 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Advisory Alpha LLC lowered its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 57.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,532 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 8,702 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Welch Group LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.8% in the first quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 10,350 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 922 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 34,063 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,577,000 after acquiring an additional 3,979 shares in the last quarter. Summit Global Investments boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 141.4% during the 1st quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 20,890 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $2,194,000 after acquiring an additional 12,235 shares during the period. First County Bank CT grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 16.6% during the 1st quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 5,957 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 846 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,440.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,964,189 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $311,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,936,066 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James restated an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 price target (up from $103.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $121.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP traded down $0.67 on Thursday, hitting $85.28. The company had a trading volume of 5,109,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,392,316. The company's fifty day moving average price is $89.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.72. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $118.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $107.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. ConocoPhillips's dividend 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.