Wall Street Zen Downgrades ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) to Sell

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on COP. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $124.00 to $122.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 13th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.00.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP stock opened at $86.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 0.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $79.88 and a 52-week high of $115.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.91.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The energy producer reported $1.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.36 by $0.06. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 14.60% and a net margin of 15.26%.The firm had revenue of $14.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.39 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 159.6% during the 1st quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 48,800 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $5,125,000 after acquiring an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 49.3% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 801,426 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $83,969,000 after purchasing an additional 264,726 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 17.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 154,360 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $13,927,000 after purchasing an additional 22,827 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 17.7% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 37,361 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,924,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory increased its stake in ConocoPhillips by 316.6% during the 1st quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 10,769 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,131,000 after buying an additional 8,184 shares during the period. 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.