Sterling Capital Management LLC Purchases 2,224 Shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 7,537 shares of the energy producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,224 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of COP. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $12,081,491,000 after buying an additional 12,751,120 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after acquiring an additional 4,211,939 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 401.5% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,423,611 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $438,690,000 after acquiring an additional 3,541,504 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of ConocoPhillips by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,131,288 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $2,792,521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,397,360 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of ConocoPhillips in the fourth quarter worth $232,859,000. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

COP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Barclays cut their target price on ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $133.00 to $120.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $127.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $128.32.

ConocoPhillips Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE COP opened at $86.32 on Thursday. ConocoPhillips has a 52 week low of $79.88 and a 52 week high of $130.77. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $95.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $101.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $109.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The energy producer reported $1.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.20. ConocoPhillips had a net margin of 16.23% and a return on equity of 17.26%. As a group, equities analysts expect that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 3rd. Investors of record on Monday, February 17th were given a $0.78 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $3.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.61%. ConocoPhillips’s payout ratio is 40.05%.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips explores for, produces, transports, and markets crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), and natural gas liquids in the United States, Canada, China, Libya, Malaysia, Norway, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's portfolio includes unconventional plays in North America; conventional assets in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia; global LNG developments; oil sands assets in Canada; and an inventory of global exploration prospects.