BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Raises Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 116.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,539 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,285 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $10,160,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,318,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037,873 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $979,102,000 after acquiring an additional 2,467,555 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,228,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216,010 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth about $135,265,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth about $128,470,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $117.10 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $85.57 and a 1 year high of $135.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 57.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total transaction of $888,657.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,395 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $685,488.70. The trade was a 56.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 2,654 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $317,630.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $677,747.84. This represents a 31.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 694,891 shares of company stock valued at $88,594,092. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on COP. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 1st. UBS Group lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Susquehanna lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.48.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.