Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. Buys 6,540 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 38,310 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 6,540 shares during the period. Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AXA S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 91.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,622,000 after acquiring an additional 40,499 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased 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 valued at $70,397,000 after purchasing an additional 44,852 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC raised its position in 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 last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.7%

NYSE:COP opened at $127.64 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $85.57 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $153.34 billion, a PE ratio of 16.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.11. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $116.92.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $19.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on COP shares. Barclays reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Capital One Financial cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Argus upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $147.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $137.48.

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.