Intech Investment Management LLC Sells 33,351 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 61,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 33,351 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $6,110,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after acquiring an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.05.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $100.51 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.90, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $86.81 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.10%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 40.05%.

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.