ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Hosking Partners LLP

Hosking Partners LLP cut its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 239,550 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 16,723 shares during the quarter. Hosking Partners LLP’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $29,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Venture Visionary Partners LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 263.6% in the third quarter. Venture Visionary Partners LLC now owns 118,655 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $14,850,000 after purchasing an additional 86,019 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 55.9% during the third quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 11,635 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 4,172 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth $6,896,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth $3,645,000. Finally, Cetera Trust Company N.A purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth $870,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on COP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Freedom Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $183.00 to $189.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.00.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $145.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $175.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.24. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $85.57 and a 52 week high of $147.41. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $133.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $122.69.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 14.22%. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.79 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.42 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 32.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 11.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.3%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This represents a 49.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Unlike integrated energy companies, it primarily focuses on upstream activities rather than operating large refining or retail fuel businesses.

The company’s portfolio includes conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas assets, liquefied natural gas-related interests, oil sands operations and other energy resources.