ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $111.43.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $98.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research report on Friday, January 16th. Argus raised their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.54.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.30. The company has a market capitalization of $136.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.44 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $99.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.53.

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

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 2nd. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, February 18th will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, February 18th. ConocoPhillips’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling at ConocoPhillips

In related news, CEO Ryan Michael Lance sold 500,708 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 325,972 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,152,410. This represents a 60.57% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.24% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 18.2% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 66.0% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 7,883,455 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $707,461,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135,315 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in ConocoPhillips by 31.4% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 10,778,664 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $966,267,000 after purchasing an additional 2,575,803 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 229.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,595,177 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $336,544,000 after purchasing an additional 2,503,156 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted 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 buying an additional 2,350,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

About ConocoPhillips

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.