BP p.l.c. $BP Shares Sold by Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd.

Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 89.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,313 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 371,459 shares during the period. Nan Shan Life Insurance Co. Ltd.’s holdings in BP were worth $1,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of BP during the 1st quarter valued at about $39,000. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the third quarter worth about $43,000. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in BP by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 1,276 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 552 shares during the period. WFA of San Diego LLC purchased a new position in BP during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in BP by 53.2% in the second quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 478 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of BP stock opened at $44.49 on Wednesday. BP p.l.c. has a 1-year low of $32.72 and a 1-year high of $48.27. The company has a market cap of $116.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.62.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $69.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $57.89 billion. BP had a net margin of 2.49% and a return on equity of 16.63%. The firm’s revenue was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.90 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 6.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $0.5196 per share. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.7%. BP’s payout ratio is currently 100.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Freedom Capital raised shares of BP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of BP from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of BP from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of BP from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of BP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.36.

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.