Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 239 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. decreased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,777 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 239 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $11,136,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after buying an additional 8,479,963 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 9.6% in 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. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,132,430,000 after purchasing an additional 438,241 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,709,604 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $653,065,000 after purchasing an additional 109,885 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $567,111,000 after buying an additional 415,878 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $103.36. 371,818 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,852,385. The firm has a market cap of $120.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.51, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.48. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $101.29 and a 12 month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The company had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on COP shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 target price (down previously from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Six 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.94.

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.