ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,880,000 shares, a drop of 5.7% from the March 15th total of 13,660,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $173.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $139.00 to $133.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 26th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $140.59.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.6 %

COP traded down $0.72 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $129.53. 3,878,617 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,204,073. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $95.70 and a one year high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $152.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.30, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.93.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. The business had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.71 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 19th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.41%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 25.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 12,150 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.44, for a total value of $1,536,246.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,522 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,836,161.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 98,832.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,584,373 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,012,956,000 after acquiring an additional 8,575,696 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,712,617 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,752,325,000 after purchasing an additional 4,726,952 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 26.6% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,964,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497,750 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $433,757,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127,165 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter worth about $310,102,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About ConocoPhillips

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.