Vontobel Holding Ltd. Trims Holdings in ConocoPhillips $COP

Vontobel Holding Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 38.6% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 10,250 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 6,437 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $970,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Hughes Medical Institute bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Bogart Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 136.8% in the second quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 315 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 249.5% in the 2nd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 325 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Traub Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of COP stock opened at $91.53 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $90.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.52. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $106.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $113.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.32.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The energy producer reported $1.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $15.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.51 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 13.64% and a net margin of 14.25%.The company’s revenue was up 14.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.78 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.78. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 47.52%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total value of $46,315,490.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Mcraven purchased 5,768 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $86.68 per share, with a total value of $499,970.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 5,768 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $499,970.24. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

COP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $111.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $117.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on ConocoPhillips from $110.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 15th. Roth Capital dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $108.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 17th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Nineteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.08.

ConocoPhillips 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.