ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Bought by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,320,129 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 243,100 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $230,087,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of COP. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,081,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after buying an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,366,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,771 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on COP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.4 %

COP opened at $102.37 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $98.95 and its 200-day moving average is $103.28. The company has a market capitalization of $130.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $86.81 and a one year high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. On average, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.05%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 40.05%.

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.