Venturi Wealth Management LLC Sells 2,027 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 124,519 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 2,027 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $12,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in COP. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after purchasing an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. The trade was a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target for the company. Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.56.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $96.39 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.93 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $100.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.69. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $94.23 and a 1 year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. On average, research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.3 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

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.