American Alpha Advisors LLC Takes $470,000 Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

American Alpha Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,472 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $470,000.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 13.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,210,751,000 after purchasing an additional 31,736,423 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 31,287,113 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,101,989,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,027 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 13,757,835 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,364,364,000 after purchasing an additional 2,971,661 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 9.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,021,394 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,191,984,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078,707 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson purchased 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $94.24 per share, for a total transaction of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. This represents a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.4%

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $93.91 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $116.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $118.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $92.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.66.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted 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. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%. The company had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.39 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $109.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.63.

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.