World Investment Advisors Grows Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

World Investment Advisors increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 13.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,795 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,289 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,353,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,210,751,000 after buying an additional 31,736,423 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.4% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,610,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,319,746,000 after buying an additional 437,709 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $942,297,000 after buying an additional 2,080,625 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 15.1% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,202,861 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $861,490,000 after buying an additional 1,073,906 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter worth about $658,981,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $87.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $115.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $92.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.00. The company has a market cap of $109.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.62.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.39 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 41.88%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $115.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $124.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.63.

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.