Brookstone Capital Management Raises Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 12.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,472 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 957 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in 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 increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 191,519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the second quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,709,604 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $653,065,000 after purchasing an additional 109,885 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP opened at $110.49 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $109.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.55. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18. 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 company has a market cap of $128.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.10%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 target price (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.12.

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.