California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Stock Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,900,170 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 111,664 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.24% of ConocoPhillips worth $336,623,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter worth about $27,000. West Branch Capital LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 87.8% during the fourth quarter. West Branch Capital LLC now owns 231 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 63.1% during the third quarter. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group now owns 287 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total transaction of $76,427,370.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,669.80. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total value of $76,427,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total transaction of $953,070.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 700,775 shares of company stock valued at $87,615,169. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $129.33. The stock had a trading volume of 4,184,243 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,418,109. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $95.70 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18. The firm has a market cap of $152.14 billion, a PE ratio of 14.35, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $120.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.20.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $15.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.47 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 22.08%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 9.47 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $173.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $154.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $143.24.

ConocoPhillips Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.