Argyle Capital Management Inc. Sells 3,850 Shares of Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,146 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock after selling 3,850 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Phillips 66 were worth $2,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 4.2% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 7,760,709 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $932,447,000 after purchasing an additional 309,239 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in Phillips 66 by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,768,960 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $813,291,000 after buying an additional 138,646 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Phillips 66 by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,881,094 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $586,463,000 after acquiring an additional 283,010 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Phillips 66 by 12.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,570,590 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $549,156,000 after acquiring an additional 502,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Phillips 66 by 21.9% in the third quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,946,809 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $233,909,000 after acquiring an additional 350,211 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.93% of the company’s stock.

Phillips 66 Stock Down 3.7 %

Phillips 66 stock traded down $5.83 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $151.41. The stock had a trading volume of 4,206,800 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,131,287. Phillips 66 has a one year low of $89.74 and a one year high of $174.08. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $155.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $137.23. The company has a market capitalization of $64.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.65, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.02.

Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The oil and gas company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.05 by ($0.15). Phillips 66 had a return on equity of 22.10% and a net margin of 4.68%. The firm had revenue of $36.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $35.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.21 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Phillips 66 will post 13.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips 66 Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 3rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 20th will be paid a dividend of $1.15 per share. This represents a $4.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. This is an increase from Phillips 66’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 17th. Phillips 66’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Joseph Scott Pruitt sold 5,922 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $157.40, for a total transaction of $932,122.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 6,583 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,036,164.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Phillips 66 news, Director Robert W. Pease acquired 682 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $146.58 per share, for a total transaction of $99,967.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,502. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Joseph Scott Pruitt sold 5,922 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $157.40, for a total transaction of $932,122.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 6,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,036,164.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 35,056 shares of company stock valued at $5,272,681. Corporate insiders own 0.22% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on PSX shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Phillips 66 from $179.00 to $191.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Phillips 66 in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. StockNews.com lowered shares of Phillips 66 from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Phillips 66 from $152.00 to $174.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Phillips 66 from $148.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.00.

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.