ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 243,864 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 1,816 shares during the quarter. Phillips 66 accounts for about 1.7% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. owned approximately 0.06% of Phillips 66 worth $32,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. bought a new position in Phillips 66 in the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Phillips 66 by 134.8% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 263 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the period. Worth Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Phillips 66 during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new position in Phillips 66 in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Phillips 66 by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 306 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. 76.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Phillips 66

In related news, VP Joseph Scott Pruitt sold 7,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.26, for a total value of $1,132,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 6,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,035,242.58. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, VP Joseph Scott Pruitt sold 7,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.26, for a total value of $1,132,272.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,035,242.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert W. Pease bought 682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $146.58 per share, for a total transaction of $99,967.56. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,900 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,502. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,056 shares of company stock worth $5,272,681. Insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PSX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $148.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Phillips 66 from $167.00 to $162.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Phillips 66 from $150.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Phillips 66 from $169.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Phillips 66 from $149.00 to $167.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.00.

Phillips 66 Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE PSX traded up $1.43 on Friday, hitting $154.74. 2,760,659 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,012,030. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.26. Phillips 66 has a 52-week low of $89.74 and a 52-week high of $174.08.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The oil and gas company reported $3.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.37 by $0.72. Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 22.10% and a net margin of 4.68%. The firm had revenue of $38.74 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.30 billion. Research analysts forecast that Phillips 66 will post 13.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This is a positive change from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Phillips 66’s payout ratio is currently 27.15%.

About Phillips 66

Phillips 66 operates as an energy manufacturing and logistics company in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Midstream, Chemicals, Refining, and Marketing and Specialties (M&S). The Midstream segment transports crude oil and other feedstocks; delivers refined petroleum products to market; provides terminaling and storage services for crude oil and refined petroleum products; transports, stores, fractionates, exports, and markets natural gas liquids; provides other fee-based processing services; and gathers, processes, transports, and markets natural gas.