Russell Investments Group Ltd. Reduces Stock Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. cut its position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,735,294 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 54,843 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in BP were worth $61,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of BP. Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 200.8% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 1,588 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 1,060 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the 3rd quarter worth about $75,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in BP in the 4th quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in BP in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,000. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $38.60 to $42.30 in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Scotiabank upped their price target on BP from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on BP from $38.00 to $42.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of BP from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.72.

BP Price Performance

BP stock opened at $39.47 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $37.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.68. BP p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $33.52 and a 1 year high of $40.84.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.96 by $0.11. BP had a net margin of 7.15% and a return on equity of 16.00%. The firm had revenue of $52.14 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $53.14 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $0.4362 dividend. This represents a $1.74 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 33.79%.

About BP

BP p.l.c. provides carbon products and services. The company operates through Gas & Low Carbon Energy, Oil Production & Operations, and Customers & Products segments. It engages in the production of natural gas, and integrated gas and power; trading of gas; operation of onshore and offshore wind power, as well as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage facilities; trading and marketing of renewable and non-renewable power; and production of crude oil.