Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 405 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,295 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 405 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 66,928,793 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $7,046,263,000 after buying an additional 10,663,093 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 20.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 59.7% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 12,456,011 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,311,369,000 after acquiring an additional 4,656,040 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5,422.3% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 4,587,729 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $482,996,000 after purchasing an additional 4,504,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Arjun N. Murti acquired 2,500 shares of the firm’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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 21,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,061,205. This trade represents a 13.16 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director R A. Walker bought 10,400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $97.80 per share, for a total transaction of $1,017,120.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Raymond James cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 price target on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $120.00 to $123.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.47.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $98.82 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market cap of $125.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $100.09 and a 200-day moving average of $105.36. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $94.23 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th will be given a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.16%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 40.05%.

About ConocoPhillips

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.