LPL Financial LLC Purchases 70,759 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 6.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,182,150 shares of the energy producer's stock after buying an additional 70,759 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC owned about 0.09% of ConocoPhillips worth $124,149,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,990 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 7,091 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 3,184 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the first quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 3,177 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Unison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 17,145 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,700,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on COP shares. Bank of America dropped 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. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $119.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $121.33.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP traded down $2.59 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $92.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,348,613 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,173,449. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.23. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $116.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $117.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.61.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.02% and a return on equity of 16.54%. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.05 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is 39.64%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson acquired 5,300 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $94.24 per share, with a total value of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. The trade was a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.