ORG Partners LLC Buys 621 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

ORG Partners LLC increased its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 32.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC’s holdings in BP were worth $80,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of BP by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 54,252 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,703,000 after acquiring an additional 7,444 shares during the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its stake in BP by 46.1% during the third quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 62,920 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,975,000 after purchasing an additional 19,857 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter worth $91,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 860.7% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 66,464 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,086,000 after buying an additional 59,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of BP in the 2nd quarter valued at about $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $30.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. BP p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $30.52 and a twelve month high of $40.84. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.38.

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

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.25%. This is a positive change from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.44. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BP from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley downgraded BP from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $49.90 to $41.50 in a research report on Monday, July 15th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. HSBC cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.