BP Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:BP)

Posted by Geri Gentry on Jul 16th, 2026

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP – Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 32,885 call options on the company. This is an increase of 47% compared to the typical volume of 22,402 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its stake in BP by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 392,400 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,628,000 after acquiring an additional 22,100 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in BP by 62.7% during the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 111,261 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $5,229,000 after buying an additional 42,894 shares during the last quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,890,000. Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth about $8,335,000. Finally, Winning Points Advisors LLC acquired a new position in BP during the fourth quarter worth $659,000. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BP. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Argus raised BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $49.40 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.64.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on BP

Key Headlines Impacting BP

Here are the key news stories impacting BP this week:

Positive Sentiment: BP reported strong Q2 performance, helped by higher oil prices, stronger refining margins, and a decline in net debt, which could support earnings estimates and cash flow outlook. BP flags boost from oil prices, refining margins as net debt falls
Positive Sentiment: BP also flagged stronger oil trading, indicating it is benefiting from elevated commodity prices and trading conditions. BP flags stronger oil trading as it continues to cash in on soaring prices
Neutral Sentiment: Unusually large call option volume suggests some traders are positioning for further upside, but it is not a fundamental catalyst by itself.
Negative Sentiment: BP is closing its corporate venture arm and selling most minority holdings in venture capital businesses, a move that reinforces its retreat from parts of the energy-transition strategy and may be seen as a setback for its low-carbon ambitions. Oil giant BP shutters its corporate venture arm after 20 years
Negative Sentiment: BP’s latest write-down tied to its low-carbon portfolio underscores the cost of the energy-transition reset and may weigh on investor confidence in management’s capital allocation. BP (LSE:BP.) Writes Down $1 Billion And Pulls Back On Low Carbon Push

BP Stock Down 0.8%

BP traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $40.99. 3,583,340 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,724,314. BP has a 1 year low of $31.58 and a 1 year high of $48.27. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.47 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $107.36 billion, a PE ratio of 34.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.22.

BP (NYSE:BP – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $52.26 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $48.50 billion. BP had a net margin of 1.62% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The company’s revenue was up 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BP will post 5.19 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, May 15th were issued a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 164.17%.

About BP

(Get Free Report)

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.