ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Patten Group Inc.

Patten Group Inc. cut its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 16.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,220 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,952 shares during the period. Patten Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,097,473,000 after buying an additional 8,479,963 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $433,757,000 after buying an additional 3,127,165 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st 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 raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% during the 1st 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, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,762,431 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $351,602,000 after buying an additional 712,062 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $110.98 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $108.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.79. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $101.29 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.09%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.27%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on COP. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.29.

ConocoPhillips 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.