ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Price Target Cut to $170.00 by Analysts at Truist Financial

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) had its price target cut by Truist Financial from $173.00 to $170.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the energy producer’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $152.00 to $133.00 and set a positive rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $139.00 to $133.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James lowered their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $137.88.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

NYSE:COP opened at $132.42 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $117.21 and a 200 day moving average of $116.49. The company has a market capitalization of $155.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.62, a PEG ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 1.24. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $95.70 and a 1-year high of $134.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.29.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.47 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 22.08% and a net margin of 18.71%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 9.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Monday, February 19th were paid a $0.78 dividend. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.36%. This is a boost from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 25.61%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 607,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.91, for a total value of $76,427,370.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,780 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $853,669.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Christopher P. Delk sold 8,505 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.06, for a total value of $953,070.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 700,775 shares of company stock valued at $87,615,169 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 98,832.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,584,373 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,012,956,000 after acquiring an additional 8,575,696 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,712,617 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,752,325,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726,952 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,964,432,000 after acquiring an additional 3,497,750 shares during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 512.8% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $433,757,000 after acquiring an additional 3,127,165 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the third quarter valued at $310,102,000. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.