ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,899 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 7,233 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $8,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in 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 buying an additional 8,479,963 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,634.2% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,101,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COP. Susquehanna lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $112.32 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $129.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $108.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.78. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $101.29 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The firm’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a $0.78 dividend. 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%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 37.10%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.