American National Bank & Trust Acquires 4,449 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

American National Bank & Trust increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 53.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,808 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,449 shares during the quarter. American National Bank & Trust’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,199,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 548.2% during the fourth quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,528 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 2,138 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 6,048 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $566,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1,922.0% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 79,180 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,412,000 after acquiring an additional 75,264 shares during the last quarter. Aspiriant LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.8% in the 4th quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 3,804 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $356,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Element Squared LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter valued at $2,421,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $130.37 on Friday. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $115.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.39. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $135.87. The company has a market capitalization of $158.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced 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). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company 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 firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 dividend yield of 2.6%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

Key Stories Impacting ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Citigroup raised its price target on COP to $150 and kept a Buy rating, backing a meaningful upside case versus recent levels and providing institutional support. Citigroup Raises Target
• Positive Sentiment: Some brokerages/upgrades (Zacks/others) and a positive forecast note have improved headline analyst sentiment, which can support flows and valuation expectations. Analyst Forecast
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro and sector coverage pieces (e.g., takeaways that oil stocks may be “tapped out”) are driving headlines and trading volatility but do not change COP’s fundamentals immediately. Barron’s Sector Note
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Ryan Lance sold 113,221 shares (~$15M) at ~ $132.71 on Mar 31, a sizable insider sale that can be perceived negatively by investors watching insider signals even if done for personal reasons. CEO Sale
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst rotation toward Diamondback Energy and its recognition on “top oil picks” lists highlights investor preference for shale growth/production discipline, which can divert investor dollars away from larger diversified producers like COP. Diamondback vs COP
• Negative Sentiment: Short‑term oil-market moves (recent unwind of a geopolitical premium) trimmed the sector and pressured oil-weighted names, a macro headwind for COP until crude stabilizes. Market Effects

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total transaction of $64,495,368.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $869,822.10. The trade was a 98.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total value of $1,733,345.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 12,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,478,751.04. This trade represents a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 in the last quarter. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

COP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell 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 $124.36.

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.