BlackRock Inc. Sells 1,653,795 Shares of BP p.l.c. $BP

BlackRock Inc. trimmed its holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 16.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,139,211 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,653,795 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $300,744,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in BP by 7.4% in the second quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,762 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 607 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in shares of BP during the second quarter worth $73,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in BP by 62.0% in the 2nd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 14,565 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 5,577 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in BP by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,914 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthspan Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of BP by 45.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealthspan Partners LLC now owns 12,431 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 3,892 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BP Stock Performance

NYSE BP opened at $42.46 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $41.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.49. BP p.l.c. has a 1 year low of $32.72 and a 1 year high of $48.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $69.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.89 billion. BP had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 106.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.90 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.5196 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.9%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is 100.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho set a $53.00 price objective on BP in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen upgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. TD Cowen upped their price target on BP from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of BP from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.36.

BP Company 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.