Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,938 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $532,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BP. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of BP during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. purchased a new stake in BP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Quent Capital LLC bought a new stake in BP during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in shares of BP by 85.7% in the second quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 1,300 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its holdings in shares of BP by 73.1% during the first quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 1,575 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $59,000 after buying an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of BP opened at $31.31 on Thursday. BP p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $30.52 and a 12-month high of $40.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The business’s 50 day moving average is $32.51 and its 200 day moving average is $35.10. The company has a market capitalization of $86.73 billion, a PE ratio of 9.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.92 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $47.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.82 billion. BP had a return on equity of 13.83% and a net margin of 3.60%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.89 EPS. Research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This is an increase from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.13%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 59.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. HSBC cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $43.00 price objective on shares of BP in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on BP in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of BP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $49.90 to $41.50 in a report on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.98.

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.