Persium Advisors LLC Sells 6,631 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Persium Advisors LLC cut its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 53.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,698 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 6,631 shares during the period. Persium Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at about $1,804,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 14.7% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,331,176 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 298,245 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.7% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,996,426 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $188,842,000 after acquiring an additional 160,410 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 140,829 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $13,321,000 after acquiring an additional 15,202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.2% during the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 389,995 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $36,890,000 after acquiring an additional 11,958 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Argus upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 2,654 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total value of $317,630.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 5,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,747.84. This represents a 31.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 7,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.03, for a total transaction of $1,001,231.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 25,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,287,678.52. This trade represents a 23.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $131.59 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $160.38 billion, a PE ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.75.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.98%.ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 53.00%.

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.