Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Reduces Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP - Free Report) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,114,682 shares of the mining company's stock after selling 34,456 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.16% of BHP Group worth $200,919,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of BHP Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 13,856 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in BHP Group by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,150 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of BHP Group by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 4,353 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $213,000 after purchasing an additional 215 shares during the last quarter. Essex Savings Bank grew its position in BHP Group by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 7,483 shares of the mining company's stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Passumpsic Savings Bank raised its position in BHP Group by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Passumpsic Savings Bank now owns 4,873 shares of the mining company's stock worth $238,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on BHP shares. Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. StockNews.com cut BHP Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Stock Down 2.3 %

NYSE BHP traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.18. The stock had a trading volume of 3,407,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,529,306. The stock has a market cap of $122.17 billion, a PE ratio of 10.95 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $48.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.75. BHP Group Limited has a 1 year low of $39.73 and a 1 year high of $63.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a dividend 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.