California Public Employees Retirement System Acquires 313,395 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

California Public Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 12.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,898,034 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 313,395 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $382,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 151.0% in the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $146.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 26th. Freedom Capital lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.04.

ConocoPhillips News Summary

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 Stock Performance

COP stock opened at $114.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The firm has a market cap of $139.74 billion, a PE ratio of 19.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average of $113.48 and a 200-day moving average of $113.37. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.76 billion for 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 business’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.2 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 57.05%.

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.