Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,647,761 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,986 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.14% of ConocoPhillips worth $217,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 229.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $336,544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503,156 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,645 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $135,265,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $128,470,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on COP. Wolfe Research increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Barclays boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:COP opened at $111.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $136.22 billion, a PE ratio of 18.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $113.65 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.07. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $85.57 and a 12 month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. Research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.27 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.05%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.