Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in ConocoPhillips $COP

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 54.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,263 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,032 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Strive Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Truist Financial began coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. They set a “hold” rating and a $124.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $118.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.16.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total value of $1,733,345.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 12,389 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,478,751.04. The trade was a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total value of $64,495,368.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $869,822.10. This represents a 98.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 621,670 shares of company stock valued at $78,320,133. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $149 and moved COP to “overweight,” supporting further upside from current levels. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts’ fair‑value updates lifted ConocoPhillips’ estimate (to ~$128.29 in one note), reflecting higher medium‑term oil price assumptions that justify stronger EPS/valuation scenarios. COP investment story shifting (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: COP recently hit a 52‑week high, signaling momentum and investor appetite for large independent E&P names. 52‑week high (Investing.com)
• Positive Sentiment: Higher oil prices (Brent above ~$95) are a sector tailwind for upstream producers like ConocoPhillips, boosting cash flow sensitivity to commodity strength. Oil >$95 sector note (Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Options desks flag COP as a covered‑call candidate given elevated prices and implied volatility — indicates some investors prefer income harvesting over outright bullish exposure. Covered‑call interest (Barchart)
• Neutral Sentiment: Truist initiated coverage (new analyst attention); some houses remain cautious or have wide target ranges, so consensus expectations are mixed and valuation dispersion remains high. Truist initiation (American Banking News)
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling was disclosed this week (including SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose and reports of larger executive sales); heavy insider dispositions can raise short‑term investor caution about near‑term allocation. Insider sales disclosure (InsiderTrades)
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/operational risk: ConocoPhillips has sought U.S. protection around Qatari energy assets after regional strikes — evacuations and security actions add near‑term operational uncertainty for LNG and related projects. Qatar protection request (Yahoo)

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.1%

COP stock opened at $133.94 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.16. The company has a market capitalization of $165.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.27. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $134.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company 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 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.00%.

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.