Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Stock Price

Key Points

• Wells Fargo lowered its ConocoPhillips price target from $189 to $185 but maintained an “overweight” rating; the new target implies about 35% upside from the current price.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average target of $145.04, with 19 analysts rating the stock Buy or Strong Buy.
• ConocoPhillips beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, and raised its quarterly dividend by about 11% to $0.93 per share. Lower production leaves results exposed to swings in oil and gas prices.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $189.00 to $185.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the energy producer's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential upside of 34.98% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on COP. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $159.00 to $174.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $151.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. UBS Group reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of ConocoPhillips in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on ConocoPhillips in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $148.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded ConocoPhillips from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $145.04.

ConocoPhillips Price Performance

NYSE COP opened at $137.06 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market cap of $164.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.96, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $136.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.90. ConocoPhillips has a 52-week low of $85.59 and a 52-week high of $154.28.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The energy producer reported $3.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.05 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $19.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $18.59 billion. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 14.22% and a return on equity of 14.72%. The business's revenue was up 29.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.61 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that ConocoPhillips will post 11.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at ConocoPhillips

In other news, SVP Andrew Lundquist sold 9,487 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.15, for a total value of $1,282,168.05. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 9,593 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,296,493.95. The trade was a 49.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ConocoPhillips

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 73.2% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,591,447 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $12,328,767,000 after buying an additional 50,116,727 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 93,886,457 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $9,760,436,000 after acquiring an additional 2,712,703 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in ConocoPhillips by 12.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,072,154 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,566,901,000 after acquiring an additional 1,609,759 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,044,489 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,457,978,000 after acquiring an additional 74,261 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 10,181,950 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $1,344,017,000 after acquiring an additional 995,392 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key ConocoPhillips News

Here are the key news stories impacting ConocoPhillips this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $3.27 beat estimates of about $3.05, while revenue of roughly $19.4 billion topped expectations of $18.6 billion. Earnings more than doubled year over year as higher realized prices boosted results, despite lower production. ConocoPhillips Q3 Earnings Beat Estimates on Higher Commodity Prices
• Positive Sentiment: The company generated $7.2 billion in operating cash flow and returned $3.4 billion to shareholders. It raised its quarterly dividend about 11%, to $0.93 per share, signaling confidence in cash generation. Q3 2026 Earnings Call Highlights
• Positive Sentiment: Management outlined a path toward roughly $7 billion in free cash flow by 2029—about double its 2025 level—and said Alaska’s Willow project remains on track toward drilling in 2027, supporting the longer-term growth story. Free cash flow outlook and dividend increase
• Negative Sentiment: Production was lower, leaving results more dependent on commodity prices; a pullback in oil and gas prices could temper earnings and cash flow. ETFs were also net sellers of $22.9 million of COP shares on Nov. 4, a possible short-term supply overhang. ETFs Are Net Sellers of ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

ConocoPhillips is an independent exploration and production company focused on finding, developing and producing oil and natural gas. Its products include crude oil, natural gas, liquefied natural gas and natural gas liquids.

The company operates in several regions, including North America, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific. Its activities span exploration, development and production, with a portfolio that includes both conventional and unconventional resources.

ConocoPhillips was formed in 2002 through the merger of Conoco and Phillips Petroleum.

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