ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Purchased by QRG Capital Management Inc.

QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 18.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 203,028 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 31,644 shares during the quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $26,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,318,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037,873 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 229.2% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $336,544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503,156 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $3,880,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,645 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,228,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at $135,265,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on COP. Susquehanna raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.76.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP opened at $104.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $85.57 and a 1 year high of $135.87. The company’s fifty day moving average is $115.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.13.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The business’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 9.66 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.05%.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.