LVW Advisors LLC Boosts Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,944 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the 1st 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 acquiring an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 512.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $433,757,000 after buying an additional 3,127,165 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after buying an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3,931.3% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,455,878 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $185,304,000 after purchasing an additional 1,419,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 1.7 %

ConocoPhillips stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $108.16. The stock had a trading volume of 794,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,682,156. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $125.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 1.24. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $102.27 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $111.73 and a 200 day moving average of $117.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

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.