Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes $8.24 Million Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 62,400 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $8,237,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,318,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037,873 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 229.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $336,544,000 after acquiring an additional 2,503,156 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $979,102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467,555 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,880,151,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,228,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.32.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total value of $15,025,558.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,448,500. This trade represents a 24.44% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.5%

COP opened at $106.33 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.55 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.11. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $85.57 and a 1-year high of $135.87. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $117.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $111.85.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.05%.

Key Headlines Impacting ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Roth Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips to Buy from Neutral, which can support investor confidence in the stock. Roth Capital Upgrades ConocoPhillips (COP) to Buy. Here is Why
• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips was named to RBC Capital’s June Global Energy Best Ideas list, reinforcing the view that analysts see upside potential in the name. ConocoPhillips (COP) Named to RBC Capital’s June Global Energy Best Ideas List
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced it will host its second-quarter earnings conference call on Aug. 6, keeping attention on upcoming results and guidance. ConocoPhillips to hold second-quarter earnings conference call on Thursday, Aug. 6
• Negative Sentiment: Broader oil-and-gas shares fell after crude dropped to its lowest level since the start of the Iran conflict, as easing geopolitical risk and resumed tanker traffic pressured oil prices and upstream producers like COP. TechnipFMC and Valaris Shares Plummet, What You Need To Know

ConocoPhillips 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.