Ransom Advisory Ltd Invests $842,000 in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Ransom Advisory Ltd has purchased a new stake of 8,014 shares in ConocoPhillips, valued at approximately $842,000 during the first quarter.
• ConocoPhillips recently reported an earnings per share of $1.42, exceeding analyst estimates by $0.06, with a quarterly revenue of $14.94 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.78 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $3.12 and a yield of 3.4%.

Ransom Advisory Ltd purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 8,014 shares of the energy producer's stock, valued at approximately $842,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 379.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,210,751,000 after acquiring an additional 31,736,423 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.4% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,610,608 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $3,319,746,000 after purchasing an additional 437,709 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $942,297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080,625 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 15.1% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,202,861 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $861,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,073,906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the first quarter valued at about $658,981,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut ConocoPhillips from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $123.00 price objective (up from $119.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $120.62.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $92.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,900,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,906,374. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $116.08. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $94.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.92. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $115.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.69.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The company had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.39 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is presently 41.88%.

ConocoPhillips 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.