Norway Savings Bank Sells 136 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Norway Savings Bank lessened its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,973 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Norway Savings Bank’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,997,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.2% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 9,697 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,234,000 after buying an additional 212 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 26,083 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,320,000 after purchasing an additional 1,390 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at about $30,021,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 19.1% during the first quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 28,601 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,640,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2,634.9% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 124,440 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $15,838,000 after purchasing an additional 119,890 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $150.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 27th. StockNews.com lowered ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Mizuho lowered their target price on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $115.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $137.12.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of COP stock traded down $3.23 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $106.24. 2,265,043 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,926,375. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.34. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

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.