Lincoln Capital LLC Cuts Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Lincoln Capital LLC lessened its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 8.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,209 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Lincoln Capital LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $219,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 19.0% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $7,046,263,000 after purchasing an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 31,161,897 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,280,725,000 after purchasing an additional 5,240,016 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after buying an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $482,996,000 after buying an additional 4,504,653 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541,504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 16th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $128.00 price target on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $136.00.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $105.76 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $103.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a market cap of $121.72 billion, a PE ratio of 12.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.19. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $94.23 and a fifty-two week high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 19.53% and a net margin of 17.29%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.78 per share. This is an increase from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.10%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.