Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. Purchases 342 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd. increased its stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 6.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,341 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Advisors Ltd.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in COP. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 30,387 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,199,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the last quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hamlin Capital Management LLC now owns 1,566,180 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $164,887,000 after buying an additional 156,115 shares during the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 38.5% during the 3rd quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 7,253 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,018 shares during the last quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 16.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mattern Capital Management LLC now owns 7,637 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10,470.8% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 40,909 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,307,000 after buying an additional 40,522 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 455,909 shares in the company, valued at $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $156.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Susquehanna dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $144.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com lowered ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $136.94.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE COP traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $104.56. 3,823,136 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,886,296. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $122.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.33. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $101.29 and a twelve month high of $135.18.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.84 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.58 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.22%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.