Marshall Wace LLP Grows Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 710,003 shares of the mining company's stock after purchasing an additional 102,433 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP's holdings in BHP Group were worth $34,669,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth $46,000. Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BHP has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded BHP Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $53.00.

BHP Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BHP traded up $0.80 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $49.18. 1,078,603 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,524,021. The stock has a market cap of $124.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. BHP Group Limited has a twelve month low of $39.73 and a twelve month high of $63.21. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $48.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.90.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. BHP Group's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.