Bank of America Corp DE Decreases Stock Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Bank of America Corp DE lowered its position in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,682,125 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 940,049 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.11% of BHP Group worth $130,968,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,856 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in BHP Group by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,150 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $544,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 4,353 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $213,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,483 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in shares of BHP Group by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,873 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

BHP Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BHP opened at $48.67 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $123.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.06 and a beta of 0.86. BHP Group Limited has a one year low of $39.73 and a one year high of $63.21. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.68 and a 200 day moving average of $50.11.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on BHP. StockNews.com downgraded BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Clarkson Capital upgraded BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group 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.