Freedom Broker Upgrades Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) to Hold

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Freedom Broker from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $258.00 target price on the oil and gas company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $173.00. Freedom Broker‘s price target points to a potential downside of 8.89% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Phillips 66 from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Barclays upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $216.00 to $282.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $276.00 price objective on shares of Phillips 66 in a research note on Sunday, October 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $260.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Phillips 66 from $245.00 to $274.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.47.

Phillips 66 Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE PSX opened at $283.18 on Friday. Phillips 66 has a 12 month low of $127.16 and a 12 month high of $299.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.46 billion, a PE ratio of 9.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.15 and a beta of 0.69.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The oil and gas company reported $14.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $11.73 by $2.35. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 33.12%. The business had revenue of $50.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 33.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips 66 announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to repurchase $10 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to repurchase up to 11.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In other Phillips 66 news, EVP Richard Harbison sold 52,100 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $223.76, for a total transaction of $11,657,896.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 39,094 shares in the company, valued at $8,747,673.44. This represents a 57.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Brian Mandell sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $6,450,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 61,595 shares in the company, valued at $13,242,925. This represents a 32.75% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 108,800 shares of company stock worth $25,016,566 in the last ninety days. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Phillips 66

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Phillips 66 by 8.1% during the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 21,572 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $6,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 13.8% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 363 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 142.5% during the 3rd quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 97 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Cordgrass Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Phillips 66 in the third quarter valued at approximately $297,000. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 5.8% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,704 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 76.93% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Phillips 66 Company Profile

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an energy manufacturing and logistics company headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company was established in 2012 following the separation of ConocoPhillips’ downstream and midstream businesses.

Phillips 66 operates across midstream, chemicals, refining and marketing. Its midstream activities include gathering, processing, transporting and storing crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Through its refining operations, the company converts crude oil and other feedstocks into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, lubricants and other refined petroleum products.

The company markets fuel and related products under the Phillips 66, 76 and Conoco brands, serving retail, commercial, aviation and industrial customers.