ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Wealth Management

Massachusetts Wealth Management lessened its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.4% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 29,088 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 420 shares during the quarter. ConocoPhillips comprises about 2.1% of Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position 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 worth $4,546,706,000 after buying an additional 5,549,078 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,544,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211,939 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted 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 worth $2,792,521,000 after buying an additional 3,397,360 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,971,661 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on COP. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $114.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.30.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4%

COP stock opened at $97.00 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $118.40. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.87. The company has a market cap of $122.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. The business had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 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.