Northern Trust Corp Purchases 846,963 Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 58.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,294,562 shares of the mining company's stock after purchasing an additional 846,963 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.09% of BHP Group worth $112,043,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BHP. Barclays PLC lifted its position in BHP Group by 93.7% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 226,083 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $14,042,000 after purchasing an additional 109,337 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in BHP Group in the 3rd quarter worth $114,000. Synovus Financial Corp grew its holdings in BHP Group by 18.7% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,423 shares of the mining company's stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,168 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of BHP Group by 17.4% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 316,454 shares of the mining company's stock worth $18,807,000 after purchasing an additional 46,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in BHP Group by 10.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 600,086 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $37,271,000 after purchasing an additional 55,095 shares during the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BHP Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Clarkson Capital raised shares of BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Stock Up 0.7 %

BHP traded up $0.35 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.52. 1,319,594 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,537,619. The stock has a market capitalization of $123.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03 and a beta of 0.86. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $47.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.16. BHP Group Limited has a 12-month low of $39.73 and a 12-month high of $63.21. 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 Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 4.8%. BHP Group's payout ratio is 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.