ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.

Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc. cut its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 48.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,737 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 4,449 shares during the quarter. Richards Merrill & Peterson Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,318,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037,873 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,966 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,386,119,000 after buying an additional 260,091 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,228,886,000 after buying an additional 2,216,010 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 31.3% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $979,102,000 after buying an additional 2,467,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.5% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 7,304,119 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $690,897,000 after buying an additional 107,754 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $116.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.19. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $84.28 and a 1-year high of $135.87. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $120.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.65.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total value of $64,495,368.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 6,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $869,822.10. This trade represents a 98.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 40,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.79, for a total value of $4,751,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 411,211 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,847,754.69. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 734,891 shares of company stock worth $93,345,692 in the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $129.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Argus upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.24.

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.