Balefire LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Balefire LLC lowered its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 36.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,643 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 10,077 shares during the quarter. Balefire LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 151.0% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the period. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Evergreen Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the first quarter worth $36,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Avalon Trust Co bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price objective on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research lowered ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Freedom Capital lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of COP stock opened at $114.70 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $113.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.52. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $85.57 and a 1-year high of $135.87. The company has a market cap of $139.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.12. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.09 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 57.05%.

Key Stories Impacting ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips agreed to acquire a 42% stake in BP’s Iraq venture, increasing its exposure to the Kirkuk oilfields and more than 3 billion barrels of recoverable resources. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s Iraq agreement is part of a broader wave of U.S. corporate commitments to support Iraqi energy development, which may signal additional international growth potential. Financial Post article
• Positive Sentiment: Energy shares were broadly stronger, helping support ConocoPhillips alongside a sector-wide move higher. Yahoo Finance article
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports noted that COP tends to move with crude oil prices, so commodity trends remain an important near-term driver for the stock. Kalkine Media article

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.