Ethic Inc. Increases Stock Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Ethic Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 22.0% in Q1, holding 23,217 shares valued at approximately $2.45 million.
• Other hedge funds also expanded their positions, with Charles Schwab Investment Management boosting its stake by 379.7%, now owning over 40 million shares.
• ConocoPhillips announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, translating to an annualized dividend of $3.12 and a yield of 3.3%.

Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,217 shares of the energy producer's stock after acquiring an additional 4,182 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,447,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 5,549,078 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,210,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,736,423 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,364,364,000 after purchasing an additional 2,971,661 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $942,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080,625 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 8,653,331 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $858,150,000 after purchasing an additional 26,157 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of COP opened at $95.39 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $119.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $116.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.35.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.39 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. ConocoPhillips's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

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 issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is 41.88%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 11th. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $120.84.

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.

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