Wesbanco Bank Inc. Decreases Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Wesbanco Bank Inc. decreased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 19.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 90,363 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 21,683 shares during the period. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $8,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 136.8% during the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 315 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 249.5% in the second quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 325 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 58.0% in the third quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $108.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $134.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.15 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $93.80. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $108.89.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total transaction of $46,315,490.00. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.24% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and issued a $102.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $108.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.78.

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.