Welch & Forbes LLC Lowers Position in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,625 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 6,449 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Phillips 66 were worth $882,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in Phillips 66 by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 201,592 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $26,501,000 after buying an additional 22,278 shares during the last quarter. Eldred Rock Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 in the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,402,000. Choate Investment Advisors bought a new position in shares of Phillips 66 during the 3rd quarter valued at $247,000. First Dallas Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phillips 66 in the 3rd quarter worth $753,000. Finally, TIAA Trust National Association grew its holdings in shares of Phillips 66 by 32.9% in the fourth quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 14,816 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Phillips 66 Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of PSX traded up $2.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $147.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 807,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,915,182. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.41. Phillips 66 has a 52-week low of $89.74 and a 52-week high of $174.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average is $155.48 and its 200-day moving average is $138.78.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.05 by ($0.15). Phillips 66 had a net margin of 3.84% and a return on equity of 19.19%. The company had revenue of $36.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.21 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Phillips 66 will post 13.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 20th will be given a $1.15 dividend. This is a positive change from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 17th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 32.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robert W. Pease acquired 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $146.58 per share, with a total value of $99,967.56. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 1,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,502. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Phillips 66 news, Director Robert W. Pease acquired 682 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $146.58 per share, with a total value of $99,967.56. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 1,900 shares in the company, valued at $278,502. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard G. Harbison sold 21,934 shares of Phillips 66 stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.27, for a total value of $3,208,286.18. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 24,941 shares in the company, valued at $3,648,120.07. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 35,056 shares of company stock valued at $5,272,681 over the last ninety days. 0.22% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PSX. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Phillips 66 from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Phillips 66 from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $152.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on Phillips 66 from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Phillips 66 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.43.

Phillips 66 Profile

Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S). The Midstream segment transports crude oil and other feedstocks; delivers refined petroleum products to market; provides terminaling and storage services for crude oil and refined petroleum products; transports, stores, fractionates, exports, and markets natural gas liquids; provides other fee-based processing services; and gathers, processes, transports, and markets natural gas.