22,792 Shares in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) Bought by Heritage Trust Co

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 22,792 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock, valued at approximately $674,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in BP. Asset Planning Inc purchased a new position in BP during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Bank & Trust Co lifted its holdings in BP by 404.8% during the fourth quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in BP by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in BP by 58.7% in the 3rd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BP by 26.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC now owns 7,550 shares of the oil and gas exploration company's stock worth $223,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a "sector perform" rating on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Raymond James raised their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. UBS Group lowered BP from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of BP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BP currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $36.73.

BP Trading Up 3.5 %

NYSE BP traded up $0.97 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.63. The company had a trading volume of 5,592,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,536,646. BP p.l.c. has a 1-year low of $25.22 and a 1-year high of $39.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 357.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $32.15 and a 200 day moving average of $31.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

BP (NYSE:BP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.71%. BP's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,375.00%.

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.