Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Phillips 66 from $140.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Argus increased their price objective on Phillips 66 from $152.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $172.00 price objective on shares of Phillips 66 in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “hold (c)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Phillips 66 has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $161.33.

Phillips 66 Trading Down 0.7%

Phillips 66 stock opened at $172.85 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $151.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. Phillips 66 has a 12 month low of $91.01 and a 12 month high of $178.38. The stock has a market cap of $69.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.98, a P/E/G ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.86.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The oil and gas company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.15 by $0.32. The business had revenue of $32.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.81 billion. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 9.13% and a net margin of 3.22%.During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.15) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Phillips 66 will post 6.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Phillips 66

In other Phillips 66 news, EVP Vanessa Allen Sutherland sold 4,394 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $659,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 25,799 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,869,850. This represents a 14.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Don Baldridge sold 7,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $160.00, for a total value of $1,200,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 38,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,158,080. This trade represents a 16.31% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,088 shares of company stock valued at $6,147,655. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Elliott Investment Management L.P. raised its stake in Phillips 66 by 22.4% during the 2nd quarter. Elliott Investment Management L.P. now owns 19,251,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $2,296,644,000 after purchasing an additional 3,526,000 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Phillips 66 by 57.4% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 56,858 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $7,734,000 after purchasing an additional 20,742 shares during the last quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT increased its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT now owns 209,700 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $28,523,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 696,577 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $83,102,000 after purchasing an additional 26,238 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 14.8% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 46,368,000 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $5,531,702,000 after buying an additional 5,978,841 shares during the last quarter. 76.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an independent energy manufacturing and logistics company engaged primarily in refining, midstream transportation, marketing and chemicals. The company processes crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products, operates pipeline and storage infrastructure, and participates in petrochemical production through strategic investments. Phillips 66 serves commercial, industrial and retail customers and positions its operations across the value chain of the downstream energy sector.

The company’s principal activities include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstocks for petrochemical production; operating midstream assets such as pipelines, terminals and fractionators that move and store crude oil and natural gas liquids; and marketing and distributing fuels and lubricants through wholesale and retail channels.