Perennial Investment Advisors LLC Sells 471 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 10.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,856 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 471 shares during the quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 35.8% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,097,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $433,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,165 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after purchasing an additional 1,856,085 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 46.0% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 3,219,929 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $409,833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,158 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.8% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,986,970 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,907,542,000 after acquiring an additional 826,529 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 2.6 %

COP stock opened at $108.30 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $125.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.22. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $101.29 and a one year high of $135.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $109.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $116.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on COP. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $147.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.06.

About ConocoPhillips

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.