Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Purchases 5,470 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 430,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,470 shares during the quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $40,314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after acquiring an additional 408,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,527,230,000 after acquiring an additional 2,714,663 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,407,770,000 after acquiring an additional 648,432 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.6% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,228,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216,010 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on COP. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a report on Friday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Argus boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In related news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total transaction of $888,657.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,488.70. This trade represents a 56.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total value of $15,025,558.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $46,448,500. This trade represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 686,391 shares of company stock valued at $87,590,752 in the last ninety days. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.8%

COP stock opened at $116.76 on Wednesday. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.57 and a twelve month high of $135.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $121.45 and its 200-day moving average is $109.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.24 billion, a PE ratio of 19.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.09 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.05%.

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.