Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. Has $604,000 Holdings in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR $BHP

Key Points

• Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in BHP Group Limited by 102.9%, owning 12,446 shares valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 6,313 shares during the first quarter.
• BHP Group has announced a semi-annual dividend of $1.185, an increase from the previous $1.00, indicating a yield of 410% and a payout ratio of 44.77%.
• After a recent trading day, BHP Group stock is down 0.3% at $53.55, with a market cap of $135.80 billion, and an average target price from analysts set at $48.50.

Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. raised its stake in BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 102.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,446 shares of the mining company's stock after buying an additional 6,313 shares during the period. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc.'s holdings in BHP Group were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group in the first quarter worth approximately $26,000. WFA Asset Management Corp bought a new position in BHP Group during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of BHP Group in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. Compagnie Lombard Odier SCmA bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth $74,000. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on BHP shares. Argus downgraded shares of BHP Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, June 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Sunday, July 27th. Berenberg Bank restated a "sell" rating and set a $44.00 target price on shares of BHP Group in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Macquarie downgraded BHP Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $48.50.

BHP Group Stock Up 2.6%

BHP Group stock traded up $1.4250 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.9250. The stock had a trading volume of 3,994,711 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,920,826. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $51.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.67. BHP Group Limited Sponsored ADR has a 12 month low of $39.73 and a 12 month high of $63.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $141.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71 and a beta of 0.80.

BHP Group Increases Dividend

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

BHP Group Profile

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.