Saudi Central Bank Boosts Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Saudi Central Bank raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 87.6% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 85,564 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 39,952 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $8,895,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. AXA S.A. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 91.1% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 784,368 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $70,397,000 after acquiring an additional 44,852 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Raymond James Financial restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $168.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, August 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.29.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. The trade was a 49.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $134.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.13. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $120.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.44. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $85.57 and a 12 month high of $137.42.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%.ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 10.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.44%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.