Sterling Capital Management LLC Has $747,000 Holdings in ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) by 41.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,537 shares of the energy producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,224 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in ConocoPhillips were worth $747,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 11.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,826,062 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $12,081,491,000 after purchasing an additional 12,751,120 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 buying an additional 3,397,360 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in ConocoPhillips by 37.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,570,246 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,544,101,000 after buying an additional 4,211,939 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of ConocoPhillips by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,420,058 shares of the energy producer’s stock valued at $1,430,034,000 after buying an additional 862,707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of ConocoPhillips by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,780,782 shares of the energy producer’s stock worth $1,366,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,324,771 shares during the period. 82.36% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

ConocoPhillips Stock Performance

Shares of ConocoPhillips stock opened at $86.32 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The company has a market cap of $109.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a 50 day moving average of $95.71 and a 200-day moving average of $101.69. ConocoPhillips has a 1-year low of $79.88 and a 1-year high of $130.77.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 17.26% and a net margin of 16.23%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that ConocoPhillips will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ConocoPhillips Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Truist Financial raised their price target on ConocoPhillips from $138.00 to $139.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of ConocoPhillips from $137.00 to $135.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of ConocoPhillips from $131.00 to $116.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James downgraded shares of ConocoPhillips from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $157.00 to $124.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their target price on ConocoPhillips from $135.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, ConocoPhillips has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.32.

ConocoPhillips Company Profile

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.