Petrus Trust Company LTA Sells 7,930 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Petrus Trust Company LTA significantly reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips by 72.3%, holding only 3,041 shares worth $319,000 after selling 7,930 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including NFJ Investment Group LLC and MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd., increased their positions in ConocoPhillips, with the latter boosting its stake by 55.6%.
• ConocoPhillips announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78, representing an annualized yield of 3.4%, with a payout ratio of 41.88%.

Petrus Trust Company LTA cut its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 72.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,041 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 7,930 shares during the period. Petrus Trust Company LTA's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $319,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Plancorp LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.8% during the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 4,574 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $480,000 after buying an additional 556 shares in the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 22.3% during the first quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC now owns 14,055 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,476,000 after buying an additional 2,565 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.5% during the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 158,177 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $16,612,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.5% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 141,961 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $14,909,000 after buying an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 55.6% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 255,581 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $26,833,000 after buying an additional 91,329 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP traded down $1.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $92.60. The company had a trading volume of 5,169,372 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,941,503. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $94.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.01. The company has a market capitalization of $115.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.69. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $116.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. Analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.88%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson acquired 5,300 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $94.24 per share, for a total transaction of $499,472.00. Following the acquisition, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,369,024.48. This represents a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $124.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.86.

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.