ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Prudential PLC

Prudential PLC reduced its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 30.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,459 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 7,065 shares during the quarter. Prudential PLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC now owns 2,370 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $222,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.1% in 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 during the period. Strategic Blueprint LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the 4th 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. Chesapeake Wealth Management increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 7,160 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Oregon Pacific Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,414 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total value of $1,733,345.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 12,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,478,751.04. The trade was a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total transaction of $64,495,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $869,822.10. This represents a 98.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 686,391 shares of company stock worth $87,590,752 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $117.10 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $122.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $109.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $142.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $85.57 and a one year high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.09 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.