ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Reaches New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $112.97 and last traded at $108.6720, with a volume of 321725 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $111.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $116.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Capital One Financial raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.54.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.16 and a beta of 0.32.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last issued 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 business had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 12.98% and a return on equity of 11.90%. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.98 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 18th. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 53.00%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.50, for a total transaction of $46,315,490.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,972 shares in the company, valued at $30,152,410. The trade was a 60.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.24% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $11,256,713,000 after purchasing an additional 408,304 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 41,450,162 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $3,880,151,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,407,770,000 after acquiring an additional 648,432 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

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.