Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 3,291 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 106,017 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 3,291 shares during the period. ConocoPhillips accounts for approximately 0.9% of Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $10,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after buying an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after acquiring an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,280,725,000 after acquiring an additional 5,240,016 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 24,733,928 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,601,639,000 after acquiring an additional 924,289 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,366,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324,771 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $128.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $132.95.

ConocoPhillips Stock Down 0.3 %

COP stock opened at $102.86 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $130.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $99.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.30. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $86.81 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. As a group, analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 40.05%.

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.