We recently published a list of Billionaire Israel Englander’s 10 Stock Picks with Huge Upside Potential. In this article, we are going to take a look at where ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) stands against other billionaire Israel Englander’s stock picks with huge upside potential.
Millennium Management is a globally recognized investment firm specializing in multi-strategy hedge fund offerings. Founded in 1989 by Israel A. Englander and Ronald Shear, the firm initially launched with $35 million in capital, including a $5 million contribution from Englander and additional investment secured from Canadian financiers, the Belzberg brothers. Despite early struggles that led to Shear’s departure just six months after its inception, Millennium evolved into one of the largest and most successful alternative asset management firms. As of late 2024, it boasts over $75.8 billion in assets under management.
Headquartered in New York, Millennium has expanded its operations globally, establishing 18 primary offices in major financial hubs including London, Dubai, Singapore, and Tokyo. The firm employs a platform-based investment approach, with approximately 330 independent investment teams operating under a decentralized model. These teams deploy a wide array of strategies across multiple asset classes, including equities, fixed income, commodities, and derivatives. Millennium’s core strategies focus on fundamental equity research, equity arbitrage, macroeconomic-driven fixed income investments, and commodity-based trades. Through this highly diversified, data-driven model, the firm aims to generate consistent, high-quality returns while managing risk effectively across global markets.
Under the leadership of Israel Englander, who remains the driving force behind the firm, Millennium has cultivated a disciplined risk management framework and continuously refined its investment strategies. A graduate of New York University who left his MBA program early to trade on the American Stock Exchange, Englander applied his market-making and derivatives trading expertise to build Millennium into an institutional powerhouse. His innovative approach emphasizes capital allocation to specialized teams rather than direct investment decisions, fostering a dynamic and competitive investment environment that attracts top talent from around the world. By 2011, Millennium was managing approximately $13 billion in assets, and in recent years, Englander has explored opportunities to sell a minority stake in the firm, signaling a move toward broader institutional ownership.
As of the fourth quarter of 2024, Millennium reported managing $204.64 billion in 13F securities, with its top ten holdings accounting for 15.5% of its portfolio. It has consistently ranked among the highest-grossing hedge funds, achieving the fourth-largest net gains of any hedge fund since inception. Millennium’s commitment to generating superior risk-adjusted returns, maintaining a diversified investment approach, and embracing strategic innovation has earned it a formidable reputation among institutional investors. With its expansive global presence, proven track record, and disciplined investment philosophy, Millennium Management continues to be a dominant force in the global hedge fund industry.
Our Methodology
For this article, we searched through Millennium Management’s Q4 2024 13F filings to identify billionaire Israel Englander’s stock picks with the highest upside potential. We compiled the equities with upside potential higher than 33% based on analyst ratings and discussed why they stood out as sound potential investments. Finally, we ranked the stocks based on the ascending order of their upside potential. To assist readers with more context, we mentioned the hedge fund sentiment around each stock using data from 1,009 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey in the fourth quarter of 2024.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 363.5% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 208 percentage points (see more details here).
An underground network of pipelines transporting oil through an expansive terrain.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders as of Q4: 86
Millennium Management’s Equity Stake: $505.32 Million
Upside Potential as of April 26: 34.93%
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is a leading independent exploration and production (E&P) company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company engages in the exploration, production, transportation, and marketing of crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquefied natural gas worldwide.
In its fourth-quarter 2024 financial report, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) announced earnings of $2.3 billion, or $1.90 per share, compared to $3.0 billion, or $2.52 per share, in the same period the previous year. For the full year, earnings totaled $9.2 billion, or $7.81 per share, down from $11.0 billion, or $9.06 per share, reported in 2023.
Despite the year-over-year earnings decline, the company continued to execute its returns-focused value strategy. According to Ryan Lance, chairman and CEO, ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) showcased strong operational performance, returned $9.1 billion to shareholders, and expanded its portfolio through the acquisition of Marathon Oil. Looking ahead, the company aims to achieve more than $1 billion in integration-related run rate synergies by year-end 2025, with over half of those efficiencies already factored into its announced capital guidance. The company ended 2024 with $6.4 billion in cash and short-term investments and $1.1 billion in long-term investments.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has set a 2025 target to return $10 billion to shareholders, underscoring its commitment to capital returns. As part of this initiative, the company declared a first-quarter ordinary dividend of $0.78 per share, payable on March 3, 2025, to stockholders of record as of February 17, 2025.
Diamond Hill Large Cap Strategy stated the following regarding ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Other bottom contributors in Q2 included CarMax, Target Corporation and ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP). Shares of oil and gas exploration and production company ConocoPhillips declined against a backdrop of lower oil prices in Q2, as well as concerns about the expensive though strategically sound acquisition of Marathon Oil.”
Overall, COP ranks 8th on our list of billionaire Israel Englander’s stock picks with huge upside potential. While we acknowledge the potential of COP as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter timeframe. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than COP but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
