Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Trims Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB cut its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 39.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 69,529 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 46,023 shares during the quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $7,320,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 83.8% in the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,490 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 23.6% during the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 71,097 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,488,000 after buying an additional 13,595 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,489,514 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $262,094,000 after acquiring an additional 46,621 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings 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, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.2% in the 3rd 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. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $100.92 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.85. The company has a market capitalization of $116.15 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.18. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $100.87 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.09%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on COP. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. UBS Group dropped their price target 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. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $139.18.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.