ConocoPhillips $COP Shares Sold by Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank

Key Points

• Zurcher Kantonalbank reduced its stake in ConocoPhillips by 3% in Q4, selling 20,162 shares and now holding 646,773 shares valued at about $60.54 million (roughly 0.05% of the company).
• Insider selling has been heavy: CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares for $64.5 million, and insiders have sold 734,891 shares worth $93.35 million in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with just 0.09% ownership.
• ConocoPhillips missed Q4 estimates (EPS $1.02 vs. $1.23 consensus; revenue down 3.7% YoY), but it pays a $0.84 quarterly dividend (2.9% yield) and analysts' price targets have been raised, leaving a consensus "Moderate Buy" average target of $129.24.

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 646,773 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 20,162 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned 0.05% of ConocoPhillips worth $60,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.9% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Edge Investment Partners Inc. now owns 81,612 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $7,640,000 after acquiring an additional 22,420 shares in the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 231.5% during the 4th quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,503 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,428,000 after purchasing an additional 10,128 shares in the last quarter. Earned Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter worth about $680,000. Hedges Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 41.7% during the 4th quarter. Hedges Asset Management LLC now owns 3,400 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Finally, Elevated Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter valued at about $85,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, 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. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $4,128,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,090,689.92. This represents a 66.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 734,891 shares of company stock worth $93,345,692. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.3%

COP opened at $116.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $84.28 and a one year high of $135.87. The company has a market cap of $141.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.19. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $120.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.65.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.23 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $13.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.98%.ConocoPhillips's revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were issued a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.9%. ConocoPhillips's dividend payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $156.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Argus raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.24.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding COP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.