MAI Capital Management Trims Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

MAI Capital Management lowered its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 176,093 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 4,245 shares during the period. MAI Capital Management’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $18,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 379.7% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 40,094,754 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,210,751,000 after buying an additional 31,736,423 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter worth about $658,981,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10,440.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,964,189 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $311,299,000 after buying an additional 2,936,066 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 30.2% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 8,972,545 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $942,297,000 after buying an additional 2,080,625 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 53.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 5,240,275 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $550,334,000 after buying an additional 1,834,118 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE COP opened at $99.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $123.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.18. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $116.08.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $14.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.39 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.98 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is presently 41.88%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kirk L. Johnson acquired 5,300 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $94.24 per share, with a total value of $499,472.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 14,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,369,024.48. This represents a 57.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on COP shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $114.00 to $113.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Melius assumed coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $117.00 target price on the stock. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.95.

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.