ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Acquired by Blue Trust Inc.

Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 37.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 19,095 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,229 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $2,184,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 35.8% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 32,192,580 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,097,473,000 after purchasing an additional 8,479,963 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 21,252,822 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,705,059,000 after acquiring an additional 1,856,085 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,900,596 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,132,430,000 after acquiring an additional 438,241 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,709,604 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $653,065,000 after purchasing an additional 109,885 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 10.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,451,796 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $567,111,000 after purchasing an additional 415,878 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $140.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.94.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $105.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $122.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 1.21. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $101.29 and a one year high of $135.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $109.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.78.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 7.99 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.86%.

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.