Alliancebernstein L.P. Has $188 Million Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,987,513 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,526 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.16% of ConocoPhillips worth $187,999,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. BNP Paribas acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on COP shares. Argus increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.75.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $121.37 on Tuesday. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $122.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $149.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.09.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total transaction of $1,003,340.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 32,984 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,893,431.36. This trade represents a 20.49% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 40,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.79, for a total transaction of $4,751,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 411,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,847,754.69. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 600,884 shares of company stock worth $58,250,367. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays raised its price target to $128 and maintained an “overweight” rating, giving explicit analyst support and upside to the stock. This upgrade is a near-term bullish catalyst. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler bumped its COP price target to $154 (from $111), a much more aggressive bullish view that can underpin buying interest from institutional investors. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Industry commentary: U.S. oil CEOs (including ConocoPhillips’ peers) warned officials the Iran-related energy crisis could worsen — a development that typically supports higher oil prices and benefits oil producers’ earnings and cash flow. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Market chatter flagged executive caution about ongoing volatility in energy markets; this underscores uncertainty (volatility can lift oil-company revenues but also increase stock-price swings). Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large insider sales: EVP Nicholas Olds sold 14,522 shares (~53.96% reduction of his holding) at ~$119.36 — a material, disclosed sale that can pressure the stock and prompt investor questions about timing. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Senior VP Andrew Lundquist sold 34,500 shares (a ~66% reduction) at ~$119.68 — another sizable executive sale that likely amplified selling sentiment today. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Senior VP Heather Hrap sold 2,654 shares (~31.9% reduction) at ~$119.68 — adds to the pattern of senior-level profit-taking disclosed this week. Read More.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.