ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Upgraded by Zacks Research to Hold Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on COP. Piper Sandler raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Mizuho raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $121.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $122.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.16.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $132.02 on Monday. 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 has a 12-month low of $79.88 and a 12-month high of $135.87. The company has a market capitalization of $163.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.82, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $113.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $99.71.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 2,654 shares of the business’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 $317,630.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 5,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $677,747.84. The trade was a 31.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew D. Lundquist sold 34,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 17,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,090,689.92. This represents a 66.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 621,670 shares of company stock valued at $78,320,133. Corporate insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of COP. Tema Etfs LLC bought a new position in shares of ConocoPhillips during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,804,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,331,176 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $220,506,000 after acquiring an additional 298,245 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 1,996,426 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $188,842,000 after acquiring an additional 160,410 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 12.1% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 140,829 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $13,321,000 after acquiring an additional 15,202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 3.2% in the third quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC now owns 389,995 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $36,890,000 after purchasing an additional 11,958 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.