Sovereign Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,359 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 341.5% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares during the period. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Garde Capital Inc. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 418.6% during the first quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 363 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $124.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Sunday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Melius began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.52.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $87.83 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.44. The firm has a market cap of $109.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.62. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $115.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.39 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business’s revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.88%.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.