WASHINGTON TRUST Co Raises Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,894 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at $27,000. RVW Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. West Tower Group LLC acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 63.1% in the 3rd quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 287 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other news, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Dominic E. Macklon sold 23,372 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.17, for a total transaction of $2,621,637.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 700,775 shares of company stock valued at $87,615,169 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

COP traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $127.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,750,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,727,014. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $95.70 and a fifty-two week high of $128.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.17 billion, a PE ratio of 14.05, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.01.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $15.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.79 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.61%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COP shares. Susquehanna decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Johnson Rice downgraded ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $141.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $139.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.12.

ConocoPhillips 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.