ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Bought by Alps Advisors Inc.

Key Points

• Alps Advisors Inc. dramatically increased its ConocoPhillips stake in the fourth quarter, boosting holdings by 4,149.2% to 266,381 shares valued at about $24.9 million.
• Institutional interest in COP remains strong overall, with about 82.36% of shares owned by institutional investors and hedge funds, while several other firms also added to their positions.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on the stock: ConocoPhillips has a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $134.48, helped by a recent earnings beat and a quarterly dividend yielding 2.9%.

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 4,149.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 266,381 shares of the energy producer's stock after acquiring an additional 260,112 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $24,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 14.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,331,176 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $220,506,000 after purchasing an additional 298,245 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 8.7% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,996,426 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $188,842,000 after purchasing an additional 160,410 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 86,171 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $8,067,000 after purchasing an additional 20,501 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the third quarter worth about $1,892,000. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 155,662 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $14,572,000 after purchasing an additional 14,833 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips joined TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy in an MoU with the Syrian Petroleum Company to explore offshore Block 3 in the Mediterranean, which could create a new long-term exploration opportunity if the project advances. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Recent commentary on COP remains constructive overall, with some analysts highlighting the company’s resilience and others maintaining upbeat price targets, suggesting Wall Street still sees upside potential over time. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Energy stocks broadly have been stronger this year, and the sector ETF’s gains show investors are still favoring oil and gas names despite recent pullbacks. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: ConocoPhillips reported solid last quarter results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, which continues to support the investment case even though year-over-year revenue declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider activity has been negative, with a recent director stock sale adding to a pattern of insider selling that can weigh on sentiment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: One recent article framed COP as vulnerable to additional market weakness, reinforcing concerns that the stock could stay tied to crude-price moves if oil sentiment softens further. Article Title

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on COP shares. Susquehanna lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $152.00 in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. UBS Group lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $128.00 target price on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $115.41 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 has a 50 day moving average of $120.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.41. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $85.57 and a 52 week high of $135.87. The company has a market cap of $140.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The company had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips's quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 7,700 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.03, for a total transaction of $1,001,231.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 25,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,287,678.52. The trade was a 23.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total value of $888,657.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,488.70. This trade represents a 56.45% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 634,715 shares of company stock valued at $81,410,816. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.

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