Mediolanum International Funds Ltd Increases Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 382,825 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,381 shares during the period. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $40,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.6% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 26,083 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the second quarter worth $30,021,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.1% in the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,601 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2,634.9% in the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 124,440 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $15,838,000 after purchasing an additional 119,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 83.8% in the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 7,490 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on COP. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $140.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $136.94.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock traded up $0.76 during trading on Friday, hitting $105.13. 796,724 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,871,705. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $101.29 and a 52 week high of $135.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $114.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.58 dividend. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.86%.

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.