Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Sells 12,482 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Institutional ownership remains heavy: Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its ConocoPhillips stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, but still held 287,435 shares worth about $26.9 million. Overall, institutional investors own 82.36% of the company.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CEO Ryan Michael Lance and SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose both sold stock recently, and insiders sold 734,891 shares worth about $93.3 million over the last three months. Insider ownership is now just 0.09% of shares outstanding.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive: ConocoPhillips has a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $134.60, while the company also beat quarterly earnings estimates with EPS of $1.89 versus $1.72 expected.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lowered its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 287,435 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 12,482 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $26,907,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,318,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037,873 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,228,886,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216,010 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,467,555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 8,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total value of $1,003,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 32,984 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,893,431.36. The trade was a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 6,835 shares of the company's stock, valued at $869,822.10. The trade was a 98.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 in the last three months. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 15th. Wall Street Zen raised ConocoPhillips from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $160.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.60.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE COP opened at $114.01 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.36, a PEG ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.11. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $84.33 and a fifty-two week high of $135.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.09 EPS. The company's revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.9%. ConocoPhillips's payout ratio is presently 57.05%.

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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