Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Cuts Position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. decreased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,287 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 1,613 shares during the quarter. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of COP. Wealthspan Partners LLC increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 98 shares during the period. Horan Securities Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Barden Capital Management Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Holderness Investments Co. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Finally, LCM Capital Management Inc increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.36% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COP. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $143.00 to $141.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $135.11.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 569,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.14, for a total transaction of $69,546,516.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 18,187 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,221,360.18. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by insiders.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of COP stock traded up $0.87 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $124.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,253,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,822,466. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.25. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $91.53 and a 52 week high of $138.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $149.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.30.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $12.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.64 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 27th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.