Country Trust Bank Sells 8,701 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Country Trust Bank lessened its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 201,435 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 8,701 shares during the period. Country Trust Bank’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $18,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 17,934 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,679,000 after buying an additional 171 shares in the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 140.9% in the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $120,000 after buying an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 47.4% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 27,020 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,529,000 after buying an additional 8,690 shares in the last quarter. Unison Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Unison Advisors LLC now owns 17,731 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,660,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth approximately $401,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $4,128,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 17,469 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. This represents a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total transaction of $15,025,558.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $46,448,500. This represents a 24.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COP. Scotiabank upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $108.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $129.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.20.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.8%

COP opened at $131.59 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $116.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $100.75. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $135.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $160.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.35 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

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.