Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $478,000 Stock Holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,782 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 653 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $478,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on BHP shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Stock Performance

NYSE:BHP opened at $47.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.85 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. BHP Group Limited has a 1 year low of $39.73 and a 1 year high of $63.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.45.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.77%.

BHP Group Company Profile

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.