Traders Purchase Large Volume of BP Call Options (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders bought 50,785 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 82% compared to the average volume of 27,878 call options.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BP traded down $1.41 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.92. The company had a trading volume of 12,472,416 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,876,163. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. BP has a 1 year low of $29.58 and a 1 year high of $48.27. The company has a market capitalization of $99.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a P/E/G ratio of 0.48 and a beta of 0.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $43.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.60.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $52.26 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $48.50 billion. BP had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 1.62%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that BP will post 5.37 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be given a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.3%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 164.17%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on BP. Morgan Stanley raised BP from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $49.40 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. HSBC upgraded BP from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $35.10 to $45.30 in a research note on Friday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on BP from $39.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Argus upgraded shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of BP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.14.

Institutional Trading of BP

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in BP by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 29,724 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,397,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA raised its position in shares of BP by 140.1% during the 1st quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 85,516 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $4,019,000 after buying an additional 49,902 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI bought a new stake in shares of BP during the 1st quarter worth $251,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in BP by 15.2% in the first quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 69,950 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,288,000 after acquiring an additional 9,239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in BP by 4.8% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,861 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $698,000 after acquiring an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Company Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.