Kentucky Retirement Systems Sells 1,337 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,132 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,337 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $10,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 8,479,963 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised 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 valued at $433,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,165 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised 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 valued at $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,158 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.8% in the first 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 purchasing an additional 826,529 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $108.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $126.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.30, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $109.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.59. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $101.29 and a twelve month high of $135.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated 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 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $159.00 price objective (up previously from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Five research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.