California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.0% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,841,692 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 119,429 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $255,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in COP. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 341.5% in the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 287 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Bogart Wealth LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 136.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 315 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 249.5% during the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 325 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 418.6% in the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 363 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Evercore ISI dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 15th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 20th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $117.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Capital One Financial raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Nineteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $114.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William H. Mcraven bought 5,768 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $86.68 per share, for a total transaction of $499,970.24. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 5,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,970.24. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP opened at $93.73 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $115.82 billion, a PE ratio of 13.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.32. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $106.20. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $89.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.83.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.51 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 14.25%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.78 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.