American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 57,097 Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 642,756 shares of the mining company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57,097 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $31,386,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in shares of BHP Group during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc bought a new position in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at $46,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth about $54,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC increased its position in shares of BHP Group by 119.4% during the 4th quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 1,301 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

BHP Group Price Performance

BHP opened at $48.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.45. BHP Group Limited has a one year low of $48.06 and a one year high of $63.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $124.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.90.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHP has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com lowered BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Company Profile

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.