Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Invests $1.89 Million in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 19,095 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,894,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after buying an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 45,847,572 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,546,706,000 after purchasing an additional 5,549,078 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,101,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,027 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the 4th 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, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,544,101,000 after buying an additional 4,211,939 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $138.00 to $107.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Susquehanna dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $114.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has 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 $122.89.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:COP opened at $94.19 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $93.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $99.24. The stock has a market cap of $119.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $122.17.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released 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 net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.05 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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 paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 39.64%.

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.