ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Research Coverage Started at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a hold rating and a $148.00 price target on the energy producer’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on COP. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 18th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.60.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $137.16 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $164.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.13. 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 1 year low of $85.57 and a 1 year high of $138.89. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.33.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.79 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%.ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.42 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 10.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This trade represents a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,228.2% in the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 147,873,744 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $15,372,954,000 after purchasing an additional 146,441,998 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,886,457 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $9,760,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712,703 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 2,350,645 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.0% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,072,154 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,566,901,000 after buying an additional 1,609,759 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged primarily in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company sells its production to refiners, utilities, industrial customers and other energy market participants.

Its portfolio includes conventional and unconventional assets, with operations and development activities in the United States, including Alaska and the Lower 48, as well as Canada, Australia, Norway, Qatar and other international locations.