Guggenheim Capital LLC Lowers Stake in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Guggenheim Capital LLC reduced its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 47,138 shares of the energy producer’s stock after selling 38,275 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $4,675,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of COP. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after acquiring an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 37.1% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,544,101,000 after purchasing an additional 4,211,939 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after purchasing an additional 3,541,504 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 13.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,792,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth approximately $232,859,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 3.0 %

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $88.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $101.44. The stock has a market cap of $112.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83. ConocoPhillips has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $130.77.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. On average, equities analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 17th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 40.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on COP. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Truist Financial increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.32.

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.