Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors Makes New $554,000 Investment in ConocoPhillips $COP

Vanguard Capital Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 4,426 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $554,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 73.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,591,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,328,767,000 after purchasing an additional 50,116,727 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter worth about $1,260,482,000. Primecap Management Co. CA acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter worth about $1,204,726,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1,181.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 8,172,490 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,022,787,000 after buying an additional 7,534,536 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth about $716,151,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 6th. Barclays decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $155.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $143.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at $1,296,493.95. This represents a 49.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.5%

COP opened at $141.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.54 and a quick ratio of 1.39. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $85.57 and a 12-month high of $143.13. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $131.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $122.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.19 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 0.24.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The company had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.42 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

ConocoPhillips Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing crude oil, natural gas, natural gas liquids and liquefied natural gas. Unlike integrated energy companies, ConocoPhillips focuses primarily on upstream activities rather than refining and retail fuel operations.

The company has a diversified portfolio of assets in major producing regions, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and Qatar. Its U.S. operations include oil and gas developments in Alaska and the Lower 48 states, while its international portfolio includes conventional and offshore projects.