Insider Selling: ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) SVP Sells 34,500 Shares of Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total value of $4,128,960.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,689.92. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP stock traded down $0.52 during trading on Monday, reaching $121.37. 7,467,336 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,445,663. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $122.50. The firm has a market cap of $149.98 billion, a PE ratio of 19.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $106.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.35 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

More ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target on COP to $128 and upgraded the stock to “overweight,” signaling analyst confidence in further upside from current levels. This provides near-term support for the share price. Barclays Lifts PT on ConocoPhillips (COP) to $128 From $118 – Here’s Why
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler also materially increased its target to $154, a more bullish view that implies larger upside and may attract buy-side interest into the stock. ConocoPhillips (COP) Price Target Increased to $154 at Piper Sandler
• Neutral Sentiment: Top U.S. oil CEOs, including ConocoPhillips’ peers, warned the White House that the energy crisis from the Middle East conflict could worsen. Higher oil-price risk could be a tailwind for COP but also increases macro volatility and policy risk. US oil CEOs warn Trump administration that energy crisis likely to worsen, WSJ reports
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reporting on insider share sales at ConocoPhillips raised questions about capital-return plans and the outlook, which can weigh on investor confidence and pressure the stock. ConocoPhillips Insider Sales Stir Questions On Capital Returns And Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed EPS and revenue below Street estimates, reminding investors that operational/commodity cycles and near-term results can disappoint even as longer-term price targets rise. This keeps some traders cautious. ConocoPhillips Trading / Recent Results

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of COP. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,318,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037,873 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,883,455 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $707,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135,315 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,778,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $966,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575,803 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 229.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $336,544,000 after buying an additional 2,503,156 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after buying an additional 2,350,645 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.75.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.