ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Shares Sold by Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. lowered its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 13.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,242 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $322,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.9% during the 4th quarter. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 15,982 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,585,000 after acquiring an additional 2,764 shares during the period. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 12,310 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,221,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,471 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,237,000 after buying an additional 757 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 11,076 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,098,000 after buying an additional 2,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Accel Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Accel Wealth Management now owns 5,358 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,669 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $95.87 per share, with a total value of $239,675.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,716,400. This trade represents a 37.68 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on COP shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Cowen assumed coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Mizuho raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $132.00 to $134.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Susquehanna increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $135.89.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of COP opened at $101.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.16. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $94.23 and a 1-year high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $117.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.19. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.13.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.16 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.10%.

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.