Arizona State Retirement System Increases Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 341,048 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $39,009,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,438 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 81.2% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 8,665 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,006,000 after purchasing an additional 3,884 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 7.6% in the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 4,703 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $546,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth $1,874,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $107.45 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $124.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $102.27 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.98.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.16%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on COP. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.24.

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.