BlackRock Inc. Sells 1,653,795 Shares of BP p.l.c. $BP

Key Points

• BlackRock reduced its BP stake by 16.9% in the second quarter, selling 1.65 million shares and retaining 8.14 million shares worth approximately $300.7 million. Institutional investors collectively own 11.01% of BP.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed, with a consensus “Hold” rating and an average price target of $46.36. Recent actions included Wells Fargo lowering its target, while Royal Bank of Canada upgraded BP to “outperform.”
• BP reported quarterly earnings of $2.22 per share, exceeding expectations, while revenue rose 106.1% year over year to $69.11 billion. The company also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.5196, implying a 4.9% annualized yield.

BlackRock Inc. lessened its holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,139,211 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 1,653,795 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. owned approximately 0.31% of BP worth $300,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of BP. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT bought a new position in shares of BP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,890,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in BP by 15.8% during the second quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,410,714 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $52,307,000 after acquiring an additional 192,211 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of BP during the first quarter valued at $28,136,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth about $17,768,000. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of BP by 125.2% in 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 last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on BP. Mizuho set a $53.00 price objective on shares of BP 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. Piper Sandler increased their price target on BP from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on BP from $54.00 to $48.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised BP from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.36.

BP Price Performance

Shares of BP stock opened at $42.46 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $41.26 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.27. BP p.l.c. has a 52-week low of $32.72 and a 52-week high of $48.27. The stock has a market cap of $111.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 0.16.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $69.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $57.89 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 106.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 6.04 EPS for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 14th will be paid a $0.5196 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 14th. This is a positive change from BP's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.9%. BP's payout ratio is currently 100.49%.

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.

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