ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Capital One Financial increased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $116.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Johnson Rice lowered ConocoPhillips from an “accumulate” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on ConocoPhillips from $113.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Argus upped their target price on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.92.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

Shares of COP stock opened at $109.82 on Friday. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $113.80. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $100.21 and its 200 day moving average is $94.91. The company has a market cap of $135.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.14.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.35 billion. ConocoPhillips had a return on equity of 11.90% and a net margin of 12.98%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.98 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Investors 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 currently 53.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,972 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,152,410. This trade represents a 60.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 18.2% during the third quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 45,645,397 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $4,318,239,000 after acquiring an additional 7,037,873 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 66.0% during the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,883,455 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $707,461,000 after buying an additional 3,135,315 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 31.4% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,778,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $966,267,000 after buying an additional 2,575,803 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 229.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $336,544,000 after buying an additional 2,503,156 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in ConocoPhillips by 6.0% in 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 buying an additional 2,350,645 shares in the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.