FORA Capital LLC Sells 7,401 Shares of BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR $BHP

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC decreased its holdings in BHP Group by 30.4%, owning 16,956 shares worth approximately $823,000 after selling 7,401 shares in the first quarter.
• Several institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Balyasny Asset Management L.P., significantly increased their stakes in BHP Group during the fourth quarter, reflecting growing interest from hedge funds.
• BHP Group announced a semi-annual dividend of $1.185 per share, up from the previous amount of $1.00, with an ex-dividend date set for September 5th.

FORA Capital LLC decreased its stake in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 30.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,956 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 7,401 shares during the period. FORA Capital LLC's holdings in BHP Group were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,150 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP bought a new position in BHP Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,440,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of BHP Group by 487.6% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 30,485 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $1,491,000 after purchasing an additional 25,297 shares in the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,151 shares of the mining company's stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 58.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,294,562 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $112,043,000 after buying an additional 846,963 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 3.79% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Berenberg Bank reiterated a "sell" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of BHP Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Argus cut shares of BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Sunday, July 27th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of BHP Group in a report on Wednesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $48.50.

BHP Group Stock Performance

Shares of BHP opened at $55.71 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $52.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $49.91. BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a 12 month low of $39.73 and a 12 month high of $63.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $141.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.66 and a beta of 0.81.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Investors of record on Friday, September 5th will be paid a dividend of $1.185 per share. This is an increase from BHP Group's previous semi-annual dividend of $1.00. This represents a yield of 410.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. BHP Group's payout ratio is 44.77%.

About BHP Group

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.