ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock Position Trimmed by ASB Consultores LLC

ASB Consultores LLC decreased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,448 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 5,476 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $852,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth approximately $1,563,000. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.2% in the second quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 8,751 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 49.6% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 117,623 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $13,454,000 after purchasing an additional 39,016 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 25.2% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 37,493 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,289,000 after purchasing an additional 7,545 shares during the period. Finally, Retirement Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth approximately $730,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $159.00 target price (up from $155.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Argus raised ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $158.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.29.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE COP opened at $110.51 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $129.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $101.29 and a 1-year high of $135.18. 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 firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.55.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend 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.