AdvisorNet Financial Inc Trims Stock Position in BP p.l.c. $BP

AdvisorNet Financial Inc cut its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 25.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,611 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 3,197 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in BP were worth $288,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of BP. Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Emprise Bank purchased a new stake in BP in the first quarter valued at $204,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in BP in the first quarter valued at $203,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of BP by 333.0% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 9,618 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $325,000 after buying an additional 7,397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of BP by 5,751.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 207,606 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,015,000 after buying an additional 204,058 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of BP stock opened at $35.20 on Thursday. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $25.22 and a 52-week high of $35.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.51. The firm has a market cap of $92.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 167.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.61.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.22. BP had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 9.08%. The business had revenue of $46.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.88 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.00 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a $0.4942 dividend. This represents a $1.98 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio is 942.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BP. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of BP from $34.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Melius Research began coverage on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $66.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas raised shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of BP from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.77.

BP Profile

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.