Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 9,271 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 14.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 74,668 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,271 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $9,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth $28,000. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 151.0% during the first quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Allied Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at $32,000. William Mack & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Evergreen Advisors LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the first quarter valued at $36,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $140.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $137.15 and a 200-day moving average of $122.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.70 and a twelve month high of $154.28.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The energy producer reported $3.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $18.59 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 17.60%. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 12.13 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.93 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. This represents a $3.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 35.29%.

Recent ConocoPhillips Headlines

These are some of the COP headlines that stood out recently:

• Neutral Sentiment: ConocoPhillips’ Permian president discussed efforts to get more value from each well; the report does not specify quantified results or a new production target. ConocoPhillips Permian president talks unlocking more value from every well
• Negative Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein cut its rating from outperform to market perform and lowered its price target to $122, implying notable downside from the referenced share price. Sanford C. Bernstein stock recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: Freedom Broker also downgraded COP, from buy to hold, with a $138 target. Separately, the recent analysis cautions that the stock’s 127.4% five-year gain may have stretched its valuation relative to earnings. ConocoPhillips stock moved down to hold by Freedom Broker ConocoPhillips stock looks like a bargain after fresh results

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on COP shares. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of ConocoPhillips from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $129.00 to $122.00 in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $156.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $144.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. The trade was a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips is an independent exploration and production company focused on finding, developing and producing oil and natural gas. Its products include crude oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company operates in several regions, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Its activities span exploration, development and production, with a portfolio that includes both conventional and unconventional resources. ConocoPhillips was formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum.