Quantitative Investment Management LLC Purchases New Stake in BP p.l.c. $BP

Quantitative Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 79,906 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,952,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in BP. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 11,424 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $422,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of BP by 4.8% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 7,953 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $294,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its position in BP by 1.0% during the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,925 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,364,000 after purchasing an additional 370 shares during the last quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. raised its stake in BP by 7.0% during the third quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 5,738 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $198,000 after purchasing an additional 374 shares during the period. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 19,709 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Performance

NYSE:BP opened at $42.13 on Monday. BP p.l.c. has a fifty-two week low of $32.72 and a fifty-two week high of $48.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.38 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 0.57 and a beta of 0.15.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.35. BP had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 2.49%.The company had revenue of $69.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $57.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 6.08 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.5196 per share. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BP. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings raised BP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $53.00 price target on BP in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.36.

BP Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.