Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 23,550 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.8% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 367,506 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,550 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $48,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COP. AXA S.A. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 91.1% in the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 84,937 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,622,000 after buying an additional 40,499 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 784,368 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $70,397,000 after acquiring an additional 44,852 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at approximately $151,000. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 53.5% in the second quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,806 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Argus increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Mizuho reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Roth Capital raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Scotiabank increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $134.16.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 3.9%

NYSE:COP opened at $115.54 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $113.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.46. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $85.57 and a 1-year high of $135.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.62, a PEG ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.12.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 EPS for the current 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 given a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 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.