Capital International Investors Increases Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Capital International Investors increased its ConocoPhillips stake by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, buying more than 2.7 million shares and bringing its holding to 48.36 million shares worth about $4.53 billion.
• Several analysts raised or maintained positive views on COP, with multiple firms lifting price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus rating and average target price of $134.48.
• ConocoPhillips reported quarterly EPS of $1.89, beating expectations, and recently paid a $0.84 quarterly dividend for an annualized yield of 2.9%.

Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer's stock after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned 3.91% of ConocoPhillips worth $4,527,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $117.10 on Friday. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $122.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.43. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $135.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm's quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued 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 was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is 57.05%.

Insider Activity

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $4,128,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. This represents a 66.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total value of $888,657.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,488.70. This trade represents a 56.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 694,891 shares of company stock worth $88,594,092 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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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