Peirce Capital Management LLC Invests $316,000 in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Peirce Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,725 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of COP. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 26.6% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,964,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497,750 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.2% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,486,871 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,495,927,000 after acquiring an additional 386,276 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,028,061 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,440,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152,907 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 98,832.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,584,373 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,012,956,000 after purchasing an additional 8,575,696 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 8,063,795 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $968,410,000 after purchasing an additional 659,632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total transaction of $76,427,370.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $853,669.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total transaction of $76,427,370.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at approximately $853,669.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total value of $5,574,064.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 44,153 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,947.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the topic of several research reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $173.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 5th. Susquehanna reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $141.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.59.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:COP traded down $0.68 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $129.57. 1,004,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,460,105. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $95.70 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.86. The firm has a market cap of $152.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.24.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $0.78 dividend. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.61%.

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.