EP Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 2,958 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 31,559 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,958 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COP. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips in the second quarter valued at about $1,058,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 513.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,264 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $145,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 125.0% in the second quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 4,856 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares during the last quarter. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at $2,769,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 27,245 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $3,116,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Argus raised shares of ConocoPhillips to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $147.00 price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $140.82.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COP opened at $105.28 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $108.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $116.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $123.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.92, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.22. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $101.29 and a one year high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.84 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.20%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 26.27%.

ConocoPhillips Company 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.