ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CEO Ryan Michael Lance Sells 506,800 Shares

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,835 shares in the company, valued at $869,822.10. This represents a 98.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $127.16. The stock had a trading volume of 10,548,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,901,911. The company has a 50-day moving average of $109.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $128.36. The company has a market cap of $157.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.27.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.98%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,804,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 14.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,331,176 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $220,506,000 after buying an additional 298,245 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 8.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,996,426 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $188,842,000 after buying an additional 160,410 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 12.1% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 140,829 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $13,321,000 after buying an additional 15,202 shares during the period. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 389,995 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $36,890,000 after buying an additional 11,958 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.38.

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.