Merit Financial Group LLC Sells 4,682 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Merit Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 34.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,977 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 4,682 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of COP. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.3% in the third quarter. Sloy Dahl & Holst LLC now owns 2,629 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 2.8% in the third quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 3,305 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $396,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 0.5% in the third quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 18,944 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,270,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 4.6% in the third quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,055 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Your Advocates Ltd. LLP increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.9% in the third quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP now owns 3,340 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock opened at $122.23 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 1.35. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $95.81 and a one year high of $135.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $123.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $117.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.25.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.32. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.85% and a net margin of 18.40%. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.71 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $3.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.55%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is currently 26.27%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total transaction of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $293,399.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 12,150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.44, for a total value of $1,536,246.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,522 shares in the company, valued at $1,836,161.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total value of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,399.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169. 0.34% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James dropped their price target on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $142.76.

ConocoPhillips 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.