AdvisorNet Financial Inc Sells 2,314 Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lessened its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 15.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,808 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 2,314 shares during the period. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in BP were worth $433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky lifted its stake in BP by 1,867.9% in the 4th quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 7,970 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 7,565 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in BP during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its position in BP by 2.3% in the 4th 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 period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of BP by 30.1% in 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 buying an additional 110,019 shares during the period. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc increased its stake in BP by 16.6% in the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 272,527 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $8,056,000 after purchasing an additional 38,751 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of BP from $35.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on BP from $30.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Scotiabank cut their target price on BP from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $29.00 target price on shares of BP and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, TD Securities restated a “hold” rating and issued a $36.00 price target (down from $40.00) on shares of BP in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $35.28.

BP Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:BP opened at $29.09 on Monday. 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 p.l.c. has a twelve month low of $25.22 and a twelve month high of $37.39. The company has a market cap of $78.98 billion, a PE ratio of 363.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $30.59.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $46.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.12 billion. BP had a net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 4.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $0.48 dividend. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. BP’s payout ratio is -413.04%.

BP Profile

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.