American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 154,304 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 11.3%, now owning over 1.5 million shares valued at approximately $160 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Charles Schwab and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in ConocoPhillips, bringing institutional ownership to 82.36% of the stock.
• ConocoPhillips recently reported better-than-expected earnings with an EPS of $1.42, surpassing estimates, and also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, representing an annual yield of 3.3%.

American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 11.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,524,079 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 154,304 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of ConocoPhillips worth $160,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $4,546,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,078 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,210,751,000 after acquiring an additional 31,736,423 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,101,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,027 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,364,364,000 after acquiring an additional 2,971,661 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 9.9% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,021,394 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,191,984,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078,707 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Melius assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson acquired 5,300 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $94.24 per share, with a total value of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,024.48. This trade represents a 57.44% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.3%

COP stock traded up $1.2640 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.0240. 3,046,392 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,098,109. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $118.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.67. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $93.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.32. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $116.08.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.39 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is 41.88%.

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.