Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Trims Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.2%, selling 6,040,163 shares in the first quarter, leaving it with approximately 39.8 million shares valued at over $4 billion.
• Recent analyst ratings for ConocoPhillips include an "overweight" designation from Wells Fargo and a target price increase to $123.00 by Morgan Stanley, indicating a consensus average target of $120.95.
• ConocoPhillips announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, yielding 3.3%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 18th.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,807,409 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 6,040,163 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 3.15% of ConocoPhillips worth $4,180,575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 10Elms LLP acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 341.5% in the 1st quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Garde Capital Inc. acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $123.00 price target (up previously from $119.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Susquehanna dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $117.00 target price (up previously from $113.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.95.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP traded up $1.8440 on Friday, reaching $96.6240. The stock had a trading volume of 6,338,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,789,525. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.68 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.80 and a 200 day moving average of $93.23. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $116.08.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.39 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The company's revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The shares were 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 approximately $1,369,024.48. The trade was a 57.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.