Deutsche Bank AG Trims Holdings in BP p.l.c. $BP

Deutsche Bank AG lowered its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 3.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,597,468 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 91,779 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG’s holdings in BP were worth $95,976,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter valued at $67,890,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in BP during the first quarter valued at $28,136,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in BP in the fourth quarter valued at $17,768,000. Sagefield Capital LP grew its position in BP by 125.2% during the 4th quarter. Sagefield Capital LP now owns 493,556 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $17,141,000 after purchasing an additional 274,381 shares during the period. Finally, Milford Funds Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter valued at about $8,335,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of NYSE BP opened at $45.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $118.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 0.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $32.72 and a 52-week high of $48.27.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. BP had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm had revenue of $69.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $57.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 6.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a $0.5196 dividend. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BP. Weiss Ratings upgraded BP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Freedom Capital raised BP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of BP from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

BP 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.