Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Cuts Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. decreased its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 17.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,970 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,639 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in BP were worth $250,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in BP by 9.9% in the third quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 233,776 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,338,000 after buying an additional 20,976 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the third quarter worth about $857,000. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the second quarter worth about $2,620,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS increased its stake in shares of BP by 4.6% during the second quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 431,655 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $15,583,000 after purchasing an additional 19,140 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc increased its stake in shares of BP by 93.4% during the second quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 16,070 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $580,000 after purchasing an additional 7,761 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP opened at $29.13 on Thursday. BP p.l.c. has a fifty-two week low of $27.82 and a fifty-two week high of $40.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.47. The company has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.66, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.59%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. BP’s payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of BP from $35.00 to $33.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of BP to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Argus upgraded shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.73.

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.