Venturi Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in ConocoPhillips $COP

Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 20.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 195,792 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 33,127 shares during the period. ConocoPhillips makes up about 1.2% of Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $25,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 21,144 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,791,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,352 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $989,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,370 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,570 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 8,018 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $751,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Roth Mkm raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $124.00 to $130.00 in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Truist Financial set a $128.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.32.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $105.63 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $128.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $85.57 and a 1-year high of $135.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $117.29 and its 200 day moving average is $111.81.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. The firm’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.09 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total transaction of $15,025,558.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $46,448,500. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.