EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 62,470 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,266 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,947,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $433,757,000 after buying an additional 3,127,165 shares during the period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after buying an additional 1,856,085 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,986,970 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,907,542,000 after acquiring an additional 826,529 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on COP. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. StockNews.com lowered ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.29.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $109.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $109.76 and a 200 day moving average of $116.57. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.27%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.