Morningstar Investment Services LLC Decreases Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC lessened its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 30.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,988 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 11,438 shares during the period. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,729,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $12,081,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 worth $4,546,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,078 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,544,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211,939 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $2,792,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 27.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.75. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,967,743 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,647,201. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $91.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $94.57. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $116.08. The company has a market cap of $115.99 billion, a PE ratio of 11.66, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.27.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.74 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 16.02%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 earnings per share. Analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on COP. Scotiabank set a $100.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Citigroup cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Mizuho cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $109.00 target price (up from $103.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $120.94.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson bought 5,300 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $94.24 per share, for a total transaction of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 14,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. This represents 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 the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

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.