Garner Asset Management Corp Buys 3,548 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Garner Asset Management Corp increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 25.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,710 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,548 shares during the quarter. ConocoPhillips comprises approximately 1.0% of Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Garner Asset Management Corp’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 94,558 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $10,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 43,036 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,922,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 70,360 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $8,048,000 after buying an additional 8,577 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 292,282 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $33,425,000 after buying an additional 10,032 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 0.6% during the second quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 611,035 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $69,890,000 after acquiring an additional 3,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $108.64 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.59. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $101.29 and a 1 year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Argus raised ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 7th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $147.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, June 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.29.

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.