Trust Co. of Vermont Cuts Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Trust Co. of Vermont reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 5.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,241 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,101 shares during the quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 123,290 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $14,102,000 after buying an additional 1,150 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 91.7% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 51,566 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $5,898,000 after purchasing an additional 24,672 shares during the last quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 24.7% during the second quarter. BancFirst Trust & Investment Management now owns 2,092 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at about $351,000. Finally, Beach Investment Counsel Inc. PA purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at about $149,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $154.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $145.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $143.53.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock traded up $1.22 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.79. The company had a trading volume of 8,424,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,700,821. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $112.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $102.27 and a 52 week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th will be paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.