First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Grows Stock Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 10.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 33,036 shares of the energy producer’s stock after buying an additional 3,190 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $3,478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in COP. Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 2,646 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 155 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 3.0% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 702,917 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $89,467,000 after acquiring an additional 20,621 shares in the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2,634.9% during the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 124,440 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $15,838,000 after acquiring an additional 119,890 shares in the last quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 50.0% during the 1st quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,500 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $192,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the first quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 31,608 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on COP shares. Mizuho reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $145.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $147.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $126.00 price target (down previously from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total transaction of $6,000,105.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE COP traded up $0.75 on Wednesday, hitting $103.07. 1,502,488 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,848,667. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $108.15 and a 200 day moving average of $113.27. ConocoPhillips has a twelve month low of $101.29 and a twelve month high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $119.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.02. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 20.81% and a net margin of 18.18%. The firm had revenue of $14.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.84 earnings per share. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.58 per share. This represents a $2.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.86%.

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.