ConocoPhillips $COP Position Reduced by Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC

Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 74.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,021 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 6,010 shares during the quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 287.5% during the 4th quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 22,352 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,092,000 after acquiring an additional 16,583 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon SLJ Capital Ltd bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter valued at $233,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter valued at $128,470,000. Fideuram Asset Management Ireland dac bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 4th quarter valued at $1,447,000. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 3,265,028 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $305,639,000 after acquiring an additional 27,942 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total value of $15,025,558.91. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 350,000 shares in the company, valued at $46,448,500. This trade represents a 24.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 6,994 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.06, for a total transaction of $888,657.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,395 shares in the company, valued at approximately $685,488.70. This represents a 56.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 734,891 shares of company stock worth $93,345,692 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on COP shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Zacks Research lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.60.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.8%

NYSE COP opened at $114.01 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $84.33 and a one year high of $135.87. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.90 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.14.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $15.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.62 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.10% and a return on equity of 11.39%. ConocoPhillips’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.09 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 9.92 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Monday, May 11th will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 11th. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.9%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.05%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.