Insider Selling: ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CEO Sells 506,800 Shares of Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 98.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $127.16. 10,548,604 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,901,911. The stock has a market cap of $157.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.06, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $109.30 and a 200-day moving average of $97.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $128.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.21). ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.98 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Roth Mkm lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.38.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,318,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037,873 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 31.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,778,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $966,267,000 after buying an additional 2,575,803 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 229.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $336,544,000 after buying an additional 2,503,156 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $979,102,000 after buying an additional 2,467,555 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,880,151,000 after buying an additional 2,350,645 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

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.