ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Acquired by Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 30.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,780 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,735 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $13,506,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Cromwell Holdings LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 4,063 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the period. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Summit Place Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,167 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,151,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at $52,000. Cardinal Capital Management increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 89,942 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $8,508,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 44.0% during the third quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 4,593 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 1,403 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Key ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips’ CEO Ryan Lance will attend the White House meeting on Venezuela, putting COP in direct discussions about potential access to Venezuelan oil assets and future investment opportunities. Reuters: ConocoPhillips says CEO will attend White House meeting
• Positive Sentiment: President Trump stated oil companies would spend roughly $100 billion to rebuild Venezuela’s energy sector and indicated the U.S. would decide which firms can operate there — a large potential investment pool for participating majors like COP. Trump: Oil companies will spend $100 billion in Venezuela
• Neutral Sentiment: U.S. energy officials say ConocoPhillips and peers are evaluating what role they could play in Venezuela; this is an exploratory phase with no guarantees of contracts or timing. Financial Post: ConocoPhillips and Exxon look at Venezuela role
• Neutral Sentiment: U.S. Treasury commentary suggests the largest oil companies will likely move more cautiously into Venezuela than independents, implying COP may be slower to deploy capital despite big potential opportunities. Reuters: Bessent says largest oil companies likely move slower
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts are trimming targets on COP: Bernstein cut its price target to $98 (from $116), signaling lowered near-term expectations despite keeping an Outperform rating. InsiderMonkey: Bernstein trims price target on ConocoPhillips
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research also lowered its price target, reflecting analyst caution that may pressure the stock until clarity on cash flows or clear commitments emerge. AmericanBankingNews: Wolfe Research Cuts ConocoPhillips Price Target
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that U.S. oil companies want “serious guarantees” from Washington before making large Venezuelan investments highlight legal/regulatory risk that could delay or limit COP’s participation. Reuters: US oil companies say they need guarantees to invest in Venezuela

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total transaction of $46,315,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 325,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William H. Mcraven purchased 5,768 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $86.68 per share, with a total value of $499,970.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 5,768 shares in the company, valued at approximately $499,970.24. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on COP shares. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Johnson Rice lowered ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $108.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.96.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $97.44 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.78, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.32. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $79.88 and a twelve month high of $106.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $91.60 and a 200 day moving average of $92.63.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.51 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 14.25%.ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was up 14.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 47.52%.

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.