Geode Capital Management LLC Sells 97,718 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Geode Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) by 74.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,804 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock after selling 97,718 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC's holdings in BP were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. IHT Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BP by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,123 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 652 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in BP by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $13,842,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,089,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in BP by 10.8% during the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,134 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $264,000 after acquiring an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC bought a new stake in BP in the third quarter valued at about $857,000. 11.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

BP Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of BP stock traded up $0.20 on Friday, reaching $31.32. 11,303,366 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,446,853. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $27.82 and a one year high of $40.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.49 and a 200 day moving average of $32.00. The company has a market capitalization of $83.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.97, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $52.05 billion. BP had a net margin of 1.36% and a return on equity of 12.91%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.15 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that BP p.l.c. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.13%. BP's dividend payout ratio is currently 200.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on BP shares. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of BP from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded BP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. StockNews.com cut BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, December 27th. Scotiabank lowered BP from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $39.89.

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.