Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Lowers Position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC cut its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 32.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 445,990 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 214,548 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC's holdings in BP were worth $15,070,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its holdings in BP by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,839 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in BP by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 31,943 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $1,079,000 after buying an additional 397 shares in the last quarter. Bank & Trust Co raised its stake in BP by 24.9% during the first quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,648 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $89,000 after buying an additional 528 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of BP by 3.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, United Community Bank grew its holdings 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 valued at $273,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BP has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 target price on BP and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BP from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. 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. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of BP from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of BP from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BP has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $35.28.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BP traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $30.81. 8,797,504 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,771,413. The company's 50 day moving average price is $28.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $30.59. The firm has a market cap of $83.64 billion, a PE ratio of 385.14, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.54. BP p.l.c. has a 52 week low of $25.22 and a 52 week high of $37.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $40.12 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. BP's revenue for the quarter was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.97 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS 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 given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.23%. BP's payout ratio is -413.04%.

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.