Confluence Investment Management LLC Grows Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Confluence Investment Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,995 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $630,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,081,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 valued at $4,546,706,000 after buying an additional 5,549,078 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,101,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,473,027 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $2,792,521,000 after acquiring an additional 3,397,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,544,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,939 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on COP. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Bank of America cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $114.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.89.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of COP stock opened at $85.53 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.62. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $118.40. The stock has a market cap of $108.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $16.18 billion for 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 earnings per share. Analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.65%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.64%.

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.