MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,889 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 271 shares during the quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,131,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after buying an additional 8,479,963 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $433,757,000 after buying an additional 3,127,165 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,705,059,000 after buying an additional 1,856,085 shares in the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after buying an additional 1,015,158 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 34.7% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 2,762,431 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $351,602,000 after buying an additional 712,062 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Argus raised shares of ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $147.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $141.24.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE:COP opened at $104.72 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $101.29 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a market cap of $121.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $116.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.14 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.27%.

ConocoPhillips 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.