BP (NYSE:BP) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Morgan Stanley from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They presently have a $26.50 target price on the oil and gas exploration company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential downside of 10.94% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. TD Cowen lowered BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on BP from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. StockNews.com cut BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, BP has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $36.06.

BP Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of BP stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $29.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,922,733 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,796,166. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The company has a market capitalization of $80.78 billion, a PE ratio of 371.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. BP has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $37.60. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $30.16 and a 200 day moving average of $30.58.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.03). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. The firm had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in BP by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $14,040,000 after acquiring an additional 110,019 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter valued at about $588,000. ARK & TLK Investments LLC bought a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter valued at about $434,000. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in BP by 83.3% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 53,360 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $1,577,000 after acquiring an additional 24,252 shares during the period. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in BP by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 272,527 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $8,056,000 after acquiring an additional 38,751 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About BP

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.