Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Invests $629,000 in ConocoPhillips $COP

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 6,717 shares of the energy producer’s stock, valued at approximately $629,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 73.6% during the fourth quarter. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. now owns 163,118 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $15,110,000 after buying an additional 69,151 shares in the last quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 9,557 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $895,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners acquired a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the fourth quarter worth about $565,000. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 4,420 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $414,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twin City Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Twin City Private Wealth LLC now owns 10,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $953,000 after buying an additional 806 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: ConocoPhillips is pursuing a major growth opportunity in Alaska’s North Slope, where the $9 billion Willow project could eventually add about $4 billion in annual incremental cash flow and help the company double free cash flow by 2029. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that ConocoPhillips may sign a deal with Syria’s new government to revive gas production could open a new international growth avenue, though the project is still early and details are limited. Article Title

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COP. Wall Street Zen raised ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $135.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Roth Mkm downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $100.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.48.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $112.14 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $85.57 and a twelve month high of $135.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $120.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.80. The stock has a market cap of $136.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.11.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The energy producer reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.17. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.39% and a net margin of 12.10%.The business had revenue of $15.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.62 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.09 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 10.03 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 11th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is 57.05%.

Insider Transactions at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 7,700 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.03, for a total value of $1,001,231.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 25,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,287,678.52. This represents a 23.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 113,221 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.71, for a total value of $15,025,558.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 350,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,448,500. The trade was a 24.44% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 634,715 shares of company stock worth $81,410,816 over the last 90 days. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.