Archer Investment Corp Cuts Stock Position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Archer Investment Corp trimmed its position in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 2.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,591 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 384 shares during the quarter. Archer Investment Corp’s holdings in BP were worth $527,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of BP by 486.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,787,644 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $94,195,000 after acquiring an additional 2,312,687 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of BP by 5,751.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 207,606 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $7,015,000 after purchasing an additional 204,058 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 217.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,282 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $3,171,000 after acquiring an additional 73,478 shares during the last quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management lifted its stake in shares of BP by 54.7% during the first quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management now owns 163,147 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $5,513,000 after purchasing an additional 57,719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of BP by 333.1% in the first quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 68,980 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $2,332,000 after acquiring an additional 53,054 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Performance

BP traded up $0.33 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $32.42. The company had a trading volume of 1,069,767 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,220,520. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market cap of $87.14 billion, a PE ratio of -70.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.54. BP p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $35.83. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.93.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $46.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.12 billion. BP had a negative net margin of 0.62% and a positive return on equity of 9.51%. The firm’s revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -413.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler upped their target price on BP from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley downgraded BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $26.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of BP from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up previously from $30.00) on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.50.

BP Company Profile

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.