Quest Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Quest Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,080 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,866 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,097,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,705,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 10,634.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,205,666 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $126,933,000 after purchasing an additional 1,194,434 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.3% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,811,289 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $717,093,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 239.1% in the 1st quarter. Natixis now owns 785,797 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $100,016,000 after purchasing an additional 554,078 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $112.32 on Monday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $101.29 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The company’s 50 day moving average is $108.01 and its 200 day moving average is $111.59. The company has a market cap of $129.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.21.

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

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.78%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 37.10%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price objective (down previously from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.63.

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.