1 Trillion Won Sell-off in a Week: Three ConocoPhillips Executives Dispose of Shares

Three ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) executives sold company stock in quick succession between March 6 and 12. On March 6, insider Timothy A. Leach disposed of 40,000 common shares at roughly $118.79 apiece, netting about $4.75 million (approximately KRW 64 billion). He still retains close to $479 million (KRW 647 billion) in equity. On March 11, Executive Vice President Nicholas G. Olds exercised stock options to acquire and immediately sell all 12,150 shares at about $116.37 each, raising approximately $1.41 million (KRW 19 billion) while maintaining a stake worth hundreds of millions. Then, on March 12, Vice President and Controller Kontessa S. Haynes Welsh sold roughly 10,000 shares for about $1.24 million (KRW 17 billion), effectively divesting her direct holdings and leaving only a small indirect position in her retirement plan.

ConocoPhillips recently reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results, reaffirming its 2026 guidance of around $12 billion in capital expenditures and a commitment to return roughly 45% of operating cash flow to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases. The company declared a quarterly common dividend of $0.84 per share. In early March, Goldman Sachs added ConocoPhillips to its U.S. “Conviction List,” noting its transition from a heavy-investment phase post-Marathon Oil acquisition to a cash-generation phase that should bolster free cash flow. Several other investment banks have since raised price targets and issued buy ratings, reflecting growing market interest in the company’s shareholder-return and cost-reduction strategy.

Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips is a global, independent oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker COP. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum, it spun off its downstream refining and marketing operations as Phillips 66 in 2012 and has since focused on upstream activities, expanding its production portfolio in North American shale, Alaska and other core producing regions.