Quantbot Technologies LP Decreases Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Quantbot Technologies LP lowered its stake in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 73.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 42,231 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 119,880 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in BP were worth $1,248,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new stake in BP in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Bank & Trust Co raised its position in shares of BP by 404.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in BP by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the period. Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in BP by 58.7% during the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 26.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $223,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE BP opened at $34.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 428.68, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $27.82 and a one year high of $40.40. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.28.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. As a group, analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,375.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BP. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 target price on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and set a $36.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of BP in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BP has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $37.48.

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.