Mechanics Bank Trust Department Raises Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 10.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 14,780 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Wealthspan Partners LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wealthspan Partners LLC now owns 6,245 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $737,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Horan Securities Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 40.2% during the first quarter. Horan Securities Inc. now owns 349 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.0% during the first quarter. Barden Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,562 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,048,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 1.5% during the first quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 6,882 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 5.3% during the first quarter. LCM Capital Management Inc now owns 2,036 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $202,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.36% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 569,400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total value of $69,546,516.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 18,187 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,221,360.18. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on COP shares. StockNews.com started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Truist Financial upped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $148.00 to $151.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Raymond James decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $142.00 to $138.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Erste Group Bank raised ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $130.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, August 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.42.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of NYSE COP opened at $123.57 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $116.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.28. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $91.53 and a 1-year high of $138.49. The company has a market cap of $147.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 3rd. The energy producer reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.94 by ($0.10). ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 27.27% and a net margin of 18.66%. The company had revenue of $12.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $3.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 27th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.65%.

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 and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; various LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.