Legal & General Group Plc Buys New Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,888,714 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $716,151,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at $188,807,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter worth $158,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth $841,000. Peak Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth $7,837,000. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at about $162,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This represents a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $133.37 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $160.22 billion, a PE ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $85.57 and a 52-week high of $135.88. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $117.97.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 10.46 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 44.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Freedom Capital raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Weiss Ratings upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Capital One Financial reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $154.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $140.29.

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.