BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Raises Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• BI Asset Management increased its ConocoPhillips stake by 116% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 58,285 shares and bringing its total holdings to 108,539 shares worth about $10.16 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with 82.36% of ConocoPhillips shares held by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several big funds, including Vanguard and Capital International Investors, also boosted their positions.
• ConocoPhillips reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings of $1.89 per share and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share, implying an annualized yield of about 2.9%.

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 116.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,539 shares of the energy producer's stock after purchasing an additional 58,285 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $10,160,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after purchasing an additional 408,304 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $4,318,239,000 after purchasing an additional 7,037,873 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after purchasing an additional 193,401 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,228,886,000 after buying an additional 2,216,010 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Truist Financial set a $128.00 price target on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded ConocoPhillips from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $118.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $117.10 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $122.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.43. The stock has a market cap of $142.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $85.57 and a 52 week high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.09 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total transaction of $888,657.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,395 shares of the company's stock, valued at $685,488.70. This trade represents a 56.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 7,700 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.03, for a total value of $1,001,231.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 25,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,287,678.52. This represents a 23.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 694,891 shares of company stock valued at $88,594,092. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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