BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Stock Position Decreased by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 10.5% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 83,806 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 9,795 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $2,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. bought a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of BP by 85.7% in the 2nd quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its stake in shares of BP by 29.1% in the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,034 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays raised BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BNP Paribas lowered BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Hsbc Global Res raised BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, HSBC lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.73.

BP Price Performance

NYSE:BP opened at $29.42 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 30.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $31.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $33.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. BP p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $27.82 and a 12 month high of $40.40.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $52.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.15 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.53%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is 200.00%.

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.