QRG Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,935 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

QRG Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,977 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,935 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $22,052,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,549,078 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 27.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,364,364,000 after buying an additional 2,971,661 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $109.00 price target (up previously from $103.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $111.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.30.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $97.00 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $88.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $95.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.61. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $118.40. 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 (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.05 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $16.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 prior year, the business earned $2.05 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were issued a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. 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.