Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Sells 32,249 Shares of ConocoPhillips $COP

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities Group Inc. reduced its ConocoPhillips stake by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, selling 32,249 shares and leaving it with 224,167 shares valued at about $21.0 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with ConocoPhillips carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $134.48; 17 analysts rate it a Buy.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $1.89 EPS versus the expected $1.72, and it also paid a $0.84 quarterly dividend for a 2.9% annualized yield.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lessened its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 224,167 shares of the energy producer's stock after selling 32,249 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $20,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Strive Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Optima Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on COP shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $154.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Wednesday. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued 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 price target of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $117.10 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $85.57 and a 1 year high of $135.87. The company has a market cap of $142.66 billion, a PE ratio of 19.88, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 0.11. The company's 50-day moving average is $122.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.43.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 57.05%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total transaction of $64,495,368.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 6,835 shares in the company, valued at approximately $869,822.10. This represents a 98.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders sold 694,891 shares of company stock worth $88,594,092. 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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