Ryan Michael Lance Sells 500,708 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total value of $46,315,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,152,410. This trade represents a 60.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $91.85 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $89.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $92.49. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $106.20. The company has a market capitalization of $113.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.10 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $15.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.51 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.25% and a return on equity of 13.64%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.52%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Roth Capital lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 97.2% during the second quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 6,861 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,381 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 138.7% during the 2nd quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 10,413 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $934,000 after buying an additional 6,051 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 17.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 154,360 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $13,927,000 after buying an additional 22,827 shares during the last quarter. StoneX Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 510.5% in the 2nd quarter. StoneX Group Inc. now owns 29,285 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,628,000 after buying an additional 24,488 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.4% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,395,546 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $304,716,000 after acquiring an additional 78,642 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

About ConocoPhillips

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.