Insider Selling: ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) SVP Sells 2,654 Shares of Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) SVP Heather Hrap sold 2,654 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $317,630.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 5,663 shares in the company, valued at $677,747.84. The trade was a 31.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE COP traded down $0.52 during trading on Monday, reaching $121.37. 7,467,336 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,445,663. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $122.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $149.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $106.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $96.93.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COP. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.4% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,650 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $148,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Advisors Capital Management LLC raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 12,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after buying an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 309,613 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $27,785,000 after buying an additional 17,839 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,681 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $600,000 after acquiring an additional 374 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 351,590 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $31,552,000 after acquiring an additional 11,552 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips News Summary

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $119.75.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.