BP p.l.c. $BP Shares Sold by Fisher Asset Management LLC

Fisher Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 65,437,382 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 873,034 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in BP were worth $2,878,590,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of BP by 290.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 2,049,151 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $75,716,000 after buying an additional 1,524,048 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its holdings in BP by 48.8% during the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 2,830,923 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $104,603,000 after acquiring an additional 928,617 shares during the period. Kahn Brothers Group Inc. purchased a new position in BP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $23,094,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in BP in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,136,000. Finally, Readystate Asset Management LP grew its position in BP by 322.4% in the 2nd quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP now owns 619,670 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $22,897,000 after acquiring an additional 472,974 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BP has been the topic of several research reports. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of BP from $53.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 1st. Citigroup began coverage on shares of BP in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BP from $57.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BP has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.90.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $45.85 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $120.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.16. BP p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $33.22 and a 1 year high of $51.49.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $3.26 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.66 by $0.60. BP had a return on equity of 24.67% and a net margin of 3.74%. The business had revenue of $68.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.14 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 8.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5196 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. BP’s payout ratio is 60.59%.

BP Profile

BP p.l.c. is a global integrated energy company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its operations span the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, as well as the processing, refining, transportation and marketing of energy products. Through its businesses, BP supplies fuels for road transportation, aviation and marine use, along with lubricants marketed under the Castrol brand. The company also operates retail fuel and convenience locations and provides energy products and services to commercial and industrial customers.