First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. trimmed its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 87,939 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,834 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $8,721,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of COP. AXA S.A. grew its stake in ConocoPhillips by 7.1% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 32,046 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,665,000 after buying an additional 2,116 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 615,172 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $70,363,000 after buying an additional 123,834 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 1,262,477 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $144,402,000 after purchasing an additional 20,443 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1,005.9% during the 2nd quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC now owns 306,327 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $35,038,000 after acquiring an additional 278,627 shares during the period. Finally, Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.3% during the second quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 64,708 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,401,000 after purchasing an additional 3,286 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director R A. Walker acquired 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, with a total value of $1,017,120.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arjun N. Murti purchased 2,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Friday, December 20th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Evercore ISI restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $135.89.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $101.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $94.23 and a 12-month high of $135.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.13. The company has a market cap of $117.26 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 17.29% and a return on equity of 19.53%. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 37.10%.

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.