Equitable Holdings Inc. Purchases New Stake in Phillips 66 $PSX

Equitable Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 20,976 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,546,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter valued at about $290,000. Pacific Heights Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth about $16,905,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth about $1,245,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Phillips 66 during the second quarter worth about $696,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Phillips 66 in the second quarter valued at about $29,267,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PSX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho upgraded shares of Phillips 66 from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $212.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 26th. Zacks Research cut Phillips 66 from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Phillips 66 in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, TD Cowen upped their target price on Phillips 66 from $240.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Phillips 66 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Kevin J. Mitchell sold 11,021 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.03, for a total value of $2,094,320.63. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 97,376 shares in the company, valued at $18,504,361.28. This represents a 10.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Brian Mandell sold 30,000 shares of Phillips 66 stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.00, for a total value of $6,450,000.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 61,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,242,925. This represents a 32.75% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 100,507 shares of company stock worth $21,770,810. 0.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Phillips 66 Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE PSX opened at $240.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $204.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.15. The company has a market capitalization of $96.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.18 and a beta of 0.68. Phillips 66 has a 12-month low of $126.74 and a 12-month high of $246.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.00.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas company reported $9.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.50 by $1.91. Phillips 66 had a net margin of 4.54% and a return on equity of 19.93%. The business had revenue of $52.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.60 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.38 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Phillips 66 will post 23.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.27 per share. This represents a $5.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 18th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio is 28.95%.

Phillips 66 announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, July 31st that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the oil and gas company to purchase up to 11.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Phillips 66 Profile

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) is an independent energy manufacturing and logistics company engaged primarily in refining, midstream transportation, marketing and chemicals. The company processes crude oil into transportation fuels, lubricants and other petroleum products, operates pipeline and storage infrastructure, and participates in petrochemical production through strategic investments. Phillips 66 serves commercial, industrial and retail customers and positions its operations across the value chain of the downstream energy sector.

The company’s principal activities include refining crude oil into gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and feedstocks for petrochemical production; operating midstream assets such as pipelines, terminals and fractionators that move and store crude oil and natural gas liquids; and marketing and distributing fuels and lubricants through wholesale and retail channels.