ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The company traded as high as $146.70 and last traded at $145.34, with a volume of 4,342,119 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $146.51.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on COP. Roth Capital upgraded ConocoPhillips from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $124.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 6th. Raymond James Financial restated an “underperform” rating and set a $168.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, August 24th. Argus raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $136.00 to $153.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $130.00 price target on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $143.62.

ConocoPhillips Trading Down 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $174.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $132.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $122.46.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The energy producer reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.90 by $0.34. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The firm had revenue of $19.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.79 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.42 EPS. ConocoPhillips’s revenue for the quarter was up 32.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were issued a $0.84 dividend. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total transaction of $1,282,168.05. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 9,593 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,493.95. This trade represents a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of ConocoPhillips

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.1% during the third quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 8,278 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,071,000 after buying an additional 618 shares during the period. Grandview Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 8.9% during the third quarter. Grandview Asset Management LLC now owns 2,583 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $323,000 after buying an additional 212 shares during the last quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Warwick Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,066 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the period. Maia Wealth LLC increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Maia Wealth LLC now owns 17,143 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,145,000 after acquiring an additional 2,010 shares during the period. Finally, Tanager Wealth Management LLP increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Tanager Wealth Management LLP now owns 9,110 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is an independent exploration and production company engaged in finding, developing and producing oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. Unlike integrated energy companies, it primarily focuses on upstream activities rather than operating large refining or retail fuel businesses.

The company’s portfolio includes conventional and unconventional oil and natural gas assets, liquefied natural gas-related interests, oil sands operations and other energy resources.