Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,751 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,001,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at about $13,468,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,234,000 after purchasing an additional 212 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 26,083 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,021,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 19.1% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,601 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on COP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $159.00 target price (up from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued 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 a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.29.

Insider Activity

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $110.51 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $101.29 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.55. The firm has a market cap of $129.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G 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.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.10%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 26.27%.

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.