Morgan Stanley Increases ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) Price Target to $149.00

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised its price target on ConocoPhillips from $108 to $149 and kept an overweight rating, implying roughly a 10.9% upside from the prior close.
• Several other brokers (Argus, Goldman Sachs, Citi, UBS) also bumped targets, but the MarketBeat consensus price target is $122.16 with an overall rating of Moderate Buy.
• Fundamentals show a recent quarterly miss (EPS $1.02 vs. $1.23; revenue down 3.7% YoY) and notable insider selling in the last 90 days, even as institutional investors own about 82% of the stock.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) had its price target boosted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $108.00 to $149.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the energy producer's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective suggests a potential upside of 10.87% from the stock's previous close.

COP has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus upped their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $111.00 to $128.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $115.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of ConocoPhillips from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $130.00 to $144.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.16.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

ConocoPhillips stock traded up $1.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $134.39. The company had a trading volume of 3,358,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,759,734. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $111.85 and a 200 day moving average of $98.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The firm has a market cap of $166.07 billion, a PE ratio of 21.22, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.27. ConocoPhillips has a one year low of $79.88 and a one year high of $134.87.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The energy producer reported $1.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.23 by ($0.21). The firm had revenue of $13.86 billion for 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 company's revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.98 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other ConocoPhillips news, SVP Kelly Brunetti Rose sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.04, for a total transaction of $1,003,340.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 32,984 shares in the company, valued at $3,893,431.36. This represents a 20.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Nicholas G. Olds sold 14,522 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $119.36, for a total transaction of $1,733,345.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 12,389 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,478,751.04. The trade was a 53.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 621,670 shares of company stock valued at $78,320,133 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.24% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 120,251,183 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $11,256,713,000 after purchasing an additional 408,304 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 48,360,060 shares of the energy producer's stock worth $4,527,230,000 after buying an additional 2,714,663 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake 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. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in ConocoPhillips by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 15,038,675 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,407,770,000 after buying an additional 648,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in ConocoPhillips by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 14,847,367 shares of the energy producer's stock valued at $1,389,862,000 after acquiring an additional 193,401 shares during the last quarter. 82.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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