Soltis Investment Advisors LLC Trims Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Soltis Investment Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 64.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,214 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 36,122 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 116,888 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.4% in the first quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,240 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $340,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.3% during the first quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,845 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.8% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 28,738 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,018,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. Finally, Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 7.3% in the 1st quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,384 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on COP. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 17th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings cut ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.67.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $85.62 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $106.93 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.58. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $115.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The firm had revenue of $14.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.88%.

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.