Rafferty Asset Management LLC Increases Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 335,255 shares of the energy producer's stock after buying an additional 34,833 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $33,247,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $12,081,491,000 after acquiring an additional 12,751,120 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $4,546,706,000 after buying an additional 5,549,078 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after buying an additional 4,211,939 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $2,792,521,000 after buying an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 27.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,364,364,000 after buying an additional 2,971,661 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $92.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $117.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $99.13. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $122.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) 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 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COP shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $120.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Bank of America cut ConocoPhillips from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.74.

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.

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