Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Cuts Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado cut its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 164,636 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 6,499 shares during the quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $18,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 512.8% in the fourth 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 period. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first 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 period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,986,970 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,907,542,000 after acquiring an additional 826,529 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips 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 owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $110.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company has a market cap of $127.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.53. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $101.29 and a 12-month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.84 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Argus upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.29.

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.