Dakota Wealth Management Cuts Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Dakota Wealth Management reduced its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,773 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 951 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,714,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the first 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,705,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,132,430,000 after purchasing an additional 438,241 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,709,604 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $653,065,000 after acquiring an additional 109,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $567,111,000 after purchasing an additional 415,878 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $104.36 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $108.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on COP shares. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price target (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 11th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.