ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Key Points

• Bessemer Group Inc. reduced its ConocoPhillips stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 101,731 shares and leaving it with 2,330,244 shares worth about $218.1 million.
• ConocoPhillips reported better-than-expected Q1 results, earning $1.89 per share versus the $1.72 estimate and generating revenue of $15.76 billion, while analysts and BMO Capital remained positive on the stock.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.84 per share, payable June 1, which annualizes to $3.36 per share for a 2.8% yield.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,330,244 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 101,731 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned 0.19% of ConocoPhillips worth $218,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in 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 during the period. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the third 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 period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,653,966 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,386,119,000 after purchasing an additional 260,091 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 12,994,674 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,228,886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216,010 shares during the period. Finally, Primecap Management Co. CA grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 31.3% in the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 10,351,010 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $979,102,000 after purchasing an additional 2,467,555 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting ConocoPhillips

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips’ Q1 earnings update was in line to better than expected on key metrics, reinforcing the view that the company’s upstream portfolio is still generating solid cash flow and profitability. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts highlighted ConocoPhillips as a strong buy and argued that long-term cash flow tailwinds could support additional upside, which may be helping sentiment around the name. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: BMO Capital maintained an outperform rating and raised its price target to $135, signaling continued confidence in ConocoPhillips’ valuation and earnings potential. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: News that ConocoPhillips, TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy will assess a Syrian offshore gas block, along with TotalEnergies’ expansion in Egypt, adds to the company’s exploration optionality and could support future reserve growth. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Shareholders backed the board, governance and auditors at the annual meeting, removing a potential source of uncertainty but not materially changing the near-term investment case. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several articles comparing COP with other value stocks are more about valuation screening than a direct operational catalyst, so they are likely to have limited immediate impact on the shares. Article Title

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of COP stock opened at $118.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $144.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $122.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.13. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $84.28 and a 1-year high of $135.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. ConocoPhillips's revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.09 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 9.62 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 57.05%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total transaction of $1,733,345.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,751.04. This trade represents a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 40,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.79, for a total transaction of $4,751,600.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 411,211 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $48,847,754.69. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 734,891 shares of company stock valued at $93,345,692 over the last quarter. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $128.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 17th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $132.84.

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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