ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Receives $119.75 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $120.3750.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Johnson Rice cut ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $108.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 7th.

ConocoPhillips Stock Up 0.2%

COP stock opened at $127.16 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $109.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $98.07. The company has a market cap of $157.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 0.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. ConocoPhillips has a fifty-two week low of $79.88 and a fifty-two week high of $128.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.98 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 53.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total value of $4,128,960.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at $2,090,689.92. This trade represents a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 506,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.26, for a total value of $64,495,368.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 6,835 shares in the company, valued at $869,822.10. This represents a 98.67% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 613,970 shares of company stock worth $77,318,902. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 1,650 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,681 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $600,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.4% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 351,590 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $31,552,000 after buying an additional 11,552 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 125.9% during the second quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 24,603 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,208,000 after buying an additional 13,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 8.9% during the second quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,432 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,910,000 after buying an additional 2,649 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is a Houston-based international energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas. Formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco Inc and Phillips Petroleum Company, the firm operates as an independent upstream company that explores for, develops and produces crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids across a portfolio of global assets.

The company’s activities span conventional and unconventional resources and include onshore and offshore operations in multiple regions around the world.