Institute for Wealth Management LLC. Sells 344 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Institute for Wealth Management LLC. decreased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 10,309 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 344 shares during the period. Institute for Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 98,832.5% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 8,575,696 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,964,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497,750 shares during the period. Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the third quarter valued at $310,102,000. Cowa LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6,475.2% in the first quarter. Cowa LLC now owns 2,375,224 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,383,000 after acquiring an additional 2,339,100 shares during the period. Finally, T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter valued at $186,330,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

COP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $141.00 to $149.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial reduced their price target 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 reduced their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $142.00.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $129.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.29. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $95.70 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $120.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.17. The stock has a market cap of $152.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.24.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 22.08%. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total value of $5,574,064.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,947.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO William L. Jr. Bullock sold 45,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.32, for a total value of $5,574,064.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 44,153 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,444,947.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,780 shares in the company, valued at $853,669.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

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.