JPMorgan Chase & Co. Decreases Position in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners L.P. (NYSE:BBU - Free Report) by 84.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,819 shares of the business services provider's stock after selling 15,079 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s holdings in Brookfield Business Partners were worth $66,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brookfield Corp ON boosted its holdings in Brookfield Business Partners by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brookfield Corp ON now owns 25,602,504 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $596,538,000 after buying an additional 428,511 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank increased its position in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 12,276.3% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 260,769 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $6,076,000 after purchasing an additional 258,662 shares in the last quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. raised its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. PCJ Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 1,518,892 shares of the business services provider's stock valued at $35,528,000 after purchasing an additional 188,743 shares during the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in Brookfield Business Partners by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 773,975 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $18,145,000 after purchasing an additional 92,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Brookfield Business Partners by 14.7% during the third quarter. Scheer Rowlett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. now owns 641,835 shares of the business services provider's stock worth $15,047,000 after buying an additional 82,372 shares in the last quarter. 85.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BBU has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector outperform" rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Brookfield Business Partners from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $32.33.

Brookfield Business Partners Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of BBU stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $22.74. 10,915 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,621. Brookfield Business Partners L.P. has a 52-week low of $16.85 and a 52-week high of $26.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.42 and a beta of 1.50. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $22.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $22.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Brookfield Business Partners (NYSE:BBU - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, January 31st. The business services provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.14 by $1.33. Brookfield Business Partners had a return on equity of 5.00% and a net margin of 2.20%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Brookfield Business Partners L.P. will post 5.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Brookfield Business Partners Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 28th will be given a $0.0625 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $0.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Brookfield Business Partners's payout ratio is currently -51.02%.

About Brookfield Business Partners

Brookfield Business Partners L.P. is a private equity firm specializing in acquisition. The firm typically invests in business services, infrastructure services, construction, energy, and industrials sector. It prefers to take majority stake in companies. The firm seeks returns of at least 15% on its investments.