ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lowered its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 231,229 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 3,051 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $22,931,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. State Street Corp lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after buying an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after buying an additional 4,656,040 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after buying an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after buying an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on COP. TD Cowen began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their price target on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $95.87 per share, for a total transaction of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker purchased 10,400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $88.98 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $86.81 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The company has a market cap of $113.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.64.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. Research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 40.05%.

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.