Bank of Montreal Can Trims Stock Position in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Bank of Montreal Can reduced its stake in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 79.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 306,335 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 1,189,598 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can's holdings in BHP Group were worth $14,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in BHP. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in BHP Group by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 20,680 shares of the mining company's stock worth $1,010,000 after buying an additional 2,032 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 11,552 shares of the mining company's stock worth $564,000 after acquiring an additional 2,739 shares during the period. Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co. LLC purchased a new position in BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,092,000. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in BHP Group by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 19,504 shares of the mining company's stock worth $952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SevenBridge Financial Group LLC boosted its position in BHP Group by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC now owns 18,730 shares of the mining company's stock worth $940,000 after purchasing an additional 1,598 shares in the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on BHP. Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of BHP Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Price Performance

BHP stock traded up $0.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.59. The stock had a trading volume of 2,488,560 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,524,296. BHP Group Limited has a 1-year low of $39.73 and a 1-year high of $63.21. The stock has a market cap of $118.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.85. The company's 50 day moving average price is $48.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.70.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors 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 payout ratio is 44.77%.

BHP Group Company 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.