Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH Reduces Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH significantly reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips (COP) by 60.3%, holding 3,574 shares, valued at approximately $321,000.
• Institutional ownership remains high, with 82.36% of the company's stock held by institutions and hedge funds, while several investors, such as Elevation Point Wealth Partners and Schwartz Investment Counsel, increased their holdings.
• ConocoPhillips maintained a “Moderate Buy” rating from analysts, with an average price target of $120.14, despite recent price target cuts from firms like Mizuho and Raymond James.

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 60.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,574 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 5,423 shares during the period. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $321,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 83.0% during the first quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,060 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,897,000 after acquiring an additional 8,189 shares in the last quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 159.6% in the first quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 48,800 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $5,125,000 after purchasing an additional 30,000 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 49.3% during the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 801,426 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $83,969,000 after purchasing an additional 264,726 shares in the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 853.3% during the 1st quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,616 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 5,922 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennessy Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 151.1% in the 1st quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 91,224 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $9,580,000 after purchasing an additional 54,900 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded ConocoPhillips from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 20th. Finally, Melius Research started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a "hold" rating and a $117.00 price objective on the stock. 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, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $120.14.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $95.72 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $116.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.97. The company has a market cap of $119.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.85, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.69.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The company had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.39 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid 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 was Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is presently 41.88%.

About ConocoPhillips

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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