ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $108.00 to $149.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the stock. ConocoPhillips traded as high as $134.90 and last traded at $135.0390, with a volume of 62139 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $133.80.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 17th. Roth Mkm downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 7th. Finally, Capital One Financial upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 2,654 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $317,630.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $677,747.84. The trade was a 31.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.68, for a total transaction of $4,128,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. The trade was a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 621,670 shares of company stock valued at $78,320,133. 0.24% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management purchased a new stake in ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new position in ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $164.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $113.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $99.44. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

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

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors of record on Wednesday, February 18th were given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.00%.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.