Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Buys New Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 29,803 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $3,098,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. AXA S.A. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 91.1% during the second quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 784,368 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $70,397,000 after acquiring an additional 44,852 shares during the period. BNP Paribas bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at about $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 53.5% in the 2nd quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $133.37 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $135.88. The business’s fifty day moving average is $115.73 and its 200 day moving average is $117.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market cap of $160.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.42 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Freedom Capital raised ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Zacks Research cut ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Roth Capital raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.29.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,493.95. The trade was a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About ConocoPhillips

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.