Safeguard Financial LLC Trims Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Safeguard Financial LLC decreased its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,323 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,234,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 26,083 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,021,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,601 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2,634.9% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 124,440 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $15,838,000 after purchasing an additional 119,890 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.12.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $105.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $109.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.69 billion, a PE ratio of 11.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.84 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.