Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $170.33 Million Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 1.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,621,874 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 20,096 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.13% of ConocoPhillips worth $170,329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11,933.6% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,461,117 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,461,000 after purchasing an additional 1,448,975 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter worth approximately $145,000. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 46.1% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares in the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 3,507 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smithfield Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 3,393 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $338,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on COP. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $114.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $109.00 price target (up from $103.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $121.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

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

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP traded down $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $94.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,331,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,614,130. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $90.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $118.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $119.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.61.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion during 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 quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. 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 3.31%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

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.