Malaga Cove Capital LLC Grows Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Malaga Cove Capital LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 14.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,379 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the quarter. Malaga Cove Capital LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. now owns 25,626 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,701,000 after acquiring an additional 4,300 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,328,032 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $139,470,000 after acquiring an additional 8,818 shares in the last quarter. SPC Financial Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 30.8% in the 1st quarter. SPC Financial Inc. now owns 4,530 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 242,209 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $25,437,000 after purchasing an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Finally, Clearwater Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,066,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $117.00 price target (up from $113.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Bank of America dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $107.00 to $106.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.33.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $92.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.97 and its 200 day moving average is $94.15. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $116.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $117.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.67.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The energy producer reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by $0.04. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 16.54% and a net margin of 16.02%. The business had revenue of $16.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson bought 5,300 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $94.24 per share, for a total transaction of $499,472.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. This trade represents a 57.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.