Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Sells 4,470 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. trimmed its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 404,434 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 4,470 shares during the period. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $50,615,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 73.2% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,591,447 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,328,767,000 after purchasing an additional 50,116,727 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,886,457 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $9,760,436,000 after purchasing an additional 2,712,703 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,072,154 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,566,901,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609,759 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,044,489 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,457,978,000 after purchasing an additional 74,261 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,181,950 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,344,017,000 after purchasing an additional 995,392 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More ConocoPhillips News

These are some of the COP news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its dividend by 11% and is returning substantial cash through buybacks. Its latest reported quarter also topped analyst expectations for earnings and revenue, supporting the case for continued cash generation. ConocoPhillips (COP) Stock Looks Like A Bargain After Fresh Results
• Neutral Sentiment: ConocoPhillips’ Permian president discussed efforts to get more value from each well; the report does not specify quantified results or a new production target. ConocoPhillips Permian president talks unlocking more value from every well
• Negative Sentiment: Sanford C. Bernstein cut its rating from outperform to market perform and lowered its price target to $122, implying notable downside from the referenced share price. Sanford C. Bernstein stock recommendations

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $156.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho set a $149.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, November 5th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of ConocoPhillips from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $129.00 to $122.00 in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.73.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP opened at $140.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $165.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.72, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 0.16. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $85.70 and a 1-year high of $154.28. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $137.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The energy producer reported $3.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $18.59 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.55% and a return on equity of 17.60%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 29.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 12.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.93 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $3.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.84. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips is an independent exploration and production company focused on finding, developing and producing oil and natural gas. Its products include crude oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company operates in several regions, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Its activities span exploration, development and production, with a portfolio that includes both conventional and unconventional resources. ConocoPhillips was formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum.