Ameriprise Financial Inc. Grows Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 20.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,216,010 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 1.05% of ConocoPhillips worth $1,228,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC now owns 316 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the period. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Higher crude and geopolitical risk are drawing investor attention to major producers, lifting the sector and COP in particular. Oil Price Back to the Glory Days
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target on COP to $154 and set an “overweight” rating, implying significant upside from current levels — a formal analyst endorsement that can support buyer interest. Piper Sandler PT Raise
• Positive Sentiment: TheStreet highlights that while oil-price swings move the stock, the bigger long-term catalyst may be ConocoPhillips’ internal execution — cash returns, portfolio optimization and disciplined capex — which investors view as durable value drivers. Oil’s whiplash is powering ConocoPhillips
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader commentary notes a sector rotation into energy as crude recovers; this macro interest helps COP but increases reliance on commodity moves rather than idiosyncratic stock drivers. Energy is no longer dead money
• Negative Sentiment: An insider sale — a ConocoPhillips director sold roughly $4.75M of stock — is being reported and can be viewed as a near-term caution for some investors. Insider Selling
• Negative Sentiment: Recent quarterly results missed estimates (EPS and revenue), reminding investors that higher oil prices need to translate into consistent operational and earnings improvement to sustain multiple expansion.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on COP. Johnson Rice lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $108.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Susquehanna increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.33.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP stock opened at $122.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $150.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.27. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $79.88 and a 1 year high of $122.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.94.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.79, for a total value of $4,751,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 411,211 shares in the company, valued at $48,847,754.69. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 549,208 shares of company stock worth $52,070,430 in the last three months. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.