ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Acquired by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 16.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,401 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 54,526 shares during the period. KBC Group NV's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $41,101,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.1% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,601 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,640,000 after buying an additional 4,578 shares during the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,021,000. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 83.8% in the 2nd quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,879,000 after acquiring an additional 7,490 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 37.8% in the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 30,026 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $3,434,000 after acquiring an additional 8,231 shares during the period. Finally, Doheny Asset Management CA purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at $815,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COP. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $145.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $126.00 target price (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $137.63.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP traded down $0.60 during trading on Friday, hitting $112.32. The stock had a trading volume of 4,097,842 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,882,573. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $101.29 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $129.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $111.90.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.78 dividend. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips's previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

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.