First Merchants Corp Sells 1,982 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

First Merchants Corp trimmed its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 46,262 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,982 shares during the quarter. First Merchants Corp’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $4,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of COP. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the second quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC now owns 8,329 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $747,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Iowa State Bank raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.5% in the second quarter. Iowa State Bank now owns 22,193 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,992,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the second quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,572 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.6% in the first quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 4,503 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.5% in the second quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,500 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the topic of several research reports. Melius Research initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $117.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $113.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.23.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $93.76 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.10. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $115.38. The stock has a market cap of $117.10 billion, a PE ratio of 12.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.62. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.76.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 15.26% and a return on equity of 14.60%. The business had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.39 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 18th were paid a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 41.88%.

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.