ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 353,072 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 10,059 shares during the period. Conning Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $33,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ConocoPhillips News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips’ Q1 earnings update was in line to better than expected on key metrics, reinforcing the view that the company’s upstream portfolio is still generating solid cash flow and profitability. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted ConocoPhillips as a strong buy and argued that long-term cash flow tailwinds could support additional upside, which may be helping sentiment around the name. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital maintained an outperform rating and raised its price target to $135, signaling continued confidence in ConocoPhillips’ valuation and earnings potential. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: News that ConocoPhillips, TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy will assess a Syrian offshore gas block, along with TotalEnergies’ expansion in Egypt, adds to the company’s exploration optionality and could support future reserve growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholders backed the board, governance and auditors at the annual meeting, removing a potential source of uncertainty but not materially changing the near-term investment case. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles comparing COP with other value stocks are more about valuation screening than a direct operational catalyst, so they are likely to have limited immediate impact on the shares. Article Title

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total transaction of $888,657.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,395 shares in the company, valued at $685,488.70. This represents a 56.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 2,654 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,747.84. This represents a 31.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 over the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Capital One Financial upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $156.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial set a $128.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $132.84.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of COP opened at $118.84 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $84.28 and a one year high of $135.87. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $122.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $106.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company has a market capitalization of $144.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.14.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.09 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 57.05%.

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.