Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Purchases 30,647 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 98.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 61,638 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 30,647 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $8,136,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 229.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $336,544,000 after buying an additional 2,503,156 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth about $135,265,000. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth about $128,470,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on COP. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 3.4%

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $112.75 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $85.57 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87. The stock has a market cap of $137.36 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.12. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $113.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 9.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 57.05%.

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.