Eagle Asset Management Inc. Acquires 910 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 32,985 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,132,430,000 after purchasing an additional 438,241 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,096,450 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $747,114,000 after buying an additional 153,944 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $717,093,000 after buying an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $567,111,000 after acquiring an additional 415,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $111.75 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $128.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $108.91 and its 200 day moving average is $111.23. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.79%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.10%.

ConocoPhillips Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.