ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Short Interest Update

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,810,000 shares, an increase of 7.2% from the September 30th total of 21,270,000 shares. Approximately 2.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,580,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 5.6% during the 1st 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 bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,021,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,601 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2,634.9% during 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 83.8% in the second quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 16,427 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after buying an additional 7,490 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. UBS Group lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price target (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.47.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

ConocoPhillips stock traded down $1.93 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $107.61. The company had a trading volume of 5,238,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,897,822. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.17. ConocoPhillips has a 1 year low of $101.29 and a 1 year high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $124.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.90%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.86%.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.