ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CFO William L. Jr. Bullock Sells 45,200 Shares

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total transaction of $5,574,064.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,153 shares in the company, valued at $5,444,947.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $126.88 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $95.70 and a one year high of $127.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $113.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $116.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 22.08%. The firm had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were issued a $0.78 dividend. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 27,672,104 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,211,901,000 after purchasing an additional 108,956 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,712,617 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,752,325,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,952 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,964,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497,750 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3.2% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 12,486,871 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,495,927,000 after acquiring an additional 386,276 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,028,061 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,440,962,000 after acquiring an additional 1,152,907 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna lowered their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 26th. Johnson Rice cut shares of ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $139.00 price objective (up from $132.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.12.

About ConocoPhillips

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.