Regal Partners Ltd Has $201,000 Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Key Points

• Regal Partners Ltd significantly reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips by 96%, selling 46,311 shares and leaving it with only 1,912 shares valued at approximately $201,000.
• Wall Street analysts maintain an overall optimistic outlook on ConocoPhillips, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a price target averaging $120.84.
• ConocoPhillips reported a surge in earnings for the last quarter, with earnings per share of $1.42, exceeding estimates and marking a 4.3% increase in quarterly revenue compared to the previous year.

Regal Partners Ltd lowered its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 96.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,912 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 46,311 shares during the period. Regal Partners Ltd's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 80,189 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $8,421,000 after purchasing an additional 10,795 shares during the period. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 418.6% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 363 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 406,697 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $42,549,000 after purchasing an additional 27,423 shares during the period. Westpac Banking Corp boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 253.9% in the 1st quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 26,650 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $2,799,000 after purchasing an additional 19,119 shares during the period. Finally, Stone House Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson purchased 5,300 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $94.24 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COP. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. 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. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $120.84.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock traded down $0.26 on Friday, reaching $95.39. The stock had a trading volume of 6,561,919 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,169,684. 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's 50-day moving average is $93.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $119.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.67. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $116.08.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.39 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. ConocoPhillips's quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is currently 41.88%.

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.