Madison Asset Management LLC Sells 7,616 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Madison Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 220,851 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 7,616 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $20,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 14.5% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 845,654 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $77,792,000 after buying an additional 107,114 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 23,222 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 39.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 22,866 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,052,000 after acquiring an additional 6,448 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 155,394 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $13,945,000 after acquiring an additional 21,940 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 17.9% in the second quarter. NorthRock Partners LLC now owns 15,861 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,424,000 after purchasing an additional 2,409 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $117.00 to $108.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.78.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $107.50 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.96 and a beta of 0.32. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $79.88 and a 12 month high of $108.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.24 and its 200 day moving average is $93.89.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.98%.The company had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.35 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.98 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total value of $46,315,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 325,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,152,410. This represents a 60.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Profile

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.