Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 1,832 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 337,268 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,832 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $38,577,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.7% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,600 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,114,000 after buying an additional 1,644 shares during the last quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 13,438 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,560,000 after purchasing an additional 483 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth $1,874,000. Berger Financial Group Inc bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter worth about $315,000. Finally, AGF Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 73.9% during the 4th quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 55,408 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $6,431,000 after purchasing an additional 23,541 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of a number of research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $142.00 to $132.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.24.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $106.02. 5,229,946 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,660,849. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $111.20 and its 200-day moving average is $117.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $102.27 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $123.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.84 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.5 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.