Verus Capital Partners LLC Sells 410 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Verus Capital Partners LLC lessened its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,727 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 410 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,557,351 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,469,163,000 after acquiring an additional 1,506,599 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Raymond James cut ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.47.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In related news, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. The trade was a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $99.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $126.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.19 and its 200-day moving average is $105.08. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. Equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 40.05%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.