South Dakota Investment Council Cuts Stock Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

South Dakota Investment Council decreased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 11.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 303,803 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 38,749 shares during the quarter. ConocoPhillips comprises about 0.8% of South Dakota Investment Council’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $40,102,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $11,256,713,000 after acquiring an additional 408,304 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,527,230,000 after purchasing an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,407,770,000 after purchasing an additional 648,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after purchasing an additional 193,401 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Capital One Financial reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital cut ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.16.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $118.17 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $85.57 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market cap of $143.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.