Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) had its price objective upped by Barclays from $135.00 to $137.00 in a research note released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the energy producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on COP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $126.00 price objective (down from $139.00) on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $132.00 to $129.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com cut shares of ConocoPhillips from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on ConocoPhillips from $153.00 to $140.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.47.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $107.84. The company had a trading volume of 7,428,060 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,908,149. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $107.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.02. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $101.29 and a 52-week high of $135.18. The company has a market capitalization of $125.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 1.21.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The energy producer reported $1.78 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.68 by $0.10. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.18% and a return on equity of 20.81%. The business had revenue of $13.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.97 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.16 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 8.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 7.76 earnings per share for the current year.

ConocoPhillips Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.78 per share. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This is a positive change from ConocoPhillips’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.58. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 25.86%.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other ConocoPhillips news, Director Timothy A. Leach sold 55,500 shares of ConocoPhillips stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $108.11, for a total value of $6,000,105.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 455,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $49,288,321.99. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.34% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Manchester Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 22.1% in the first quarter. Manchester Capital Management LLC now owns 475 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Vicus Capital lifted its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.7% during the second quarter. Vicus Capital now owns 2,637 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $302,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Montag A & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 2.5% in the second quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc. now owns 3,900 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Excalibur Management Corp raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. Excalibur Management Corp now owns 4,037 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $462,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 36,739 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $4,202,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.