First Command Advisory Services Inc. Sells 585 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

First Command Advisory Services Inc. lessened its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 25.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,704 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 585 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $169,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on COP. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Evercore ISI reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $97.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $123.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.16. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. Sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

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.