Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Purchases 225 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,200 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,132,430,000 after acquiring an additional 438,241 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,412,753 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $860,398,000 after acquiring an additional 191,519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 6,079,041 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $705,594,000 after purchasing an additional 211,257 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $110.36 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $108.67 and a 200 day moving average of $116.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $128.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.22. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.12 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.10%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $147.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.69.

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.