Piper Sandler Increases ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Price Target to $157.00

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) had its target price boosted by research analysts at Piper Sandler from $145.00 to $157.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the energy producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 22.45% from the company’s previous close.

COP has been the topic of several other research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $123.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $140.00 to $137.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $158.00 price objective for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $142.00.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

COP traded down $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $128.22. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 395,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,409,398. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $119.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.01. ConocoPhillips has a 12 month low of $95.70 and a 12 month high of $135.18. The stock has a market cap of $150.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The energy producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $15.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.47 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 18.71% and a return on equity of 22.08%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.71 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 9.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total value of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $293,399.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Heather G. Hrap sold 4,548 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.55, for a total value of $502,781.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $293,399.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Dominic E. Macklon sold 23,372 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.17, for a total value of $2,621,637.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 700,775 shares of company stock worth $87,615,169. Corporate insiders own 0.34% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of COP. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 98,832.5% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,584,373 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,012,956,000 after purchasing an additional 8,575,696 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 24.9% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 23,712,617 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $2,752,325,000 after buying an additional 4,726,952 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 26.6% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,647,723 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,964,432,000 after purchasing an additional 3,497,750 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 512.8% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 3,737,026 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $433,757,000 after buying an additional 3,127,165 shares during the period. Finally, Alphinity Investment Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the 3rd quarter valued at $310,102,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.36% of the company’s stock.

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.