Palouse Capital Management Inc. Makes New $63,000 Investment in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Palouse Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 600 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $63,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,762,431 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $351,602,000 after buying an additional 712,062 shares during the period. Finally, Natixis raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 239.1% during the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 785,797 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $100,016,000 after buying an additional 554,078 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:COP traded down $0.16 during trading on Monday, reaching $105.51. 2,109,880 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,909,418. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $101.29 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $122.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.67.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.20%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 target price (down previously from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.94.

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.