Argent Trust Co Sells 1,059 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Argent Trust Co lessened its stake in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,171 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in BP were worth $301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in BP. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in BP by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $19,526,000 after buying an additional 14,436 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 30.1% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $14,040,000 after purchasing an additional 110,019 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS grew its stake in shares of BP by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $13,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares during the last quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its position in BP by 16.6% during the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 272,527 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $8,056,000 after purchasing an additional 38,751 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its holdings in BP by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 129,215 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,820,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Up 1.2 %

BP stock opened at $26.55 on Friday. BP p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $25.22 and a 12 month high of $40.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.08. The company has a market capitalization of $72.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 331.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.23%. BP’s payout ratio is currently 2,375.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. UBS Group downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of BP from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.73.

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.