NBC Securities Inc. Purchases 17,371 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

NBC Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 144,758.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 17,383 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,371 shares during the quarter. NBC Securities Inc.'s holdings in BP were worth $587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of BP by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of BP by 1.3% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $1,079,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of BP by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 19,753 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $584,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. United Community Bank raised its stake in shares of BP by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. United Community Bank now owns 9,232 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mascagni Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of BP during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on BP shares. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of BP from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 price target on shares of BP and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. DZ Bank lowered shares of BP from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley cut BP from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $26.50 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, May 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their target price on BP from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.28.

BP Stock Performance

NYSE:BP traded up $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $29.28. 6,988,332 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,781,239. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.58. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $37.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $79.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 366.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.54.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.03). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. The company had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.97 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -413.04%.

BP Company Profile

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.