Vest Financial LLC Purchases 6,448 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Vest Financial LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 39.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,866 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,448 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of COP. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 159.6% during the first quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 48,800 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $5,125,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 49.3% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 801,426 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $83,969,000 after acquiring an additional 264,726 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 853.3% during the first quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,616 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $698,000 after acquiring an additional 5,922 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 17.4% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 154,360 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $13,927,000 after acquiring an additional 22,827 shares during the period. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 17.7% during the first quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 37,361 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,924,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Melius Research assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $117.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.13.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $88.17 on Wednesday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $115.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average is $94.42 and its 200-day moving average is $92.32. The company has a market capitalization of $110.11 billion, a PE ratio of 11.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.62.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 41.88%.

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.