Argent Trust Co Decreases Stock Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Argent Trust Co cut its stake in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 9.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,171 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 1,059 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in BP were worth $301,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in BP by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 22,002 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 5,797 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BP by 217.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 107,282 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $3,171,000 after buying an additional 73,478 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its position in BP by 17.8% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 20,392 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 3,084 shares during the period. ARK & TLK Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP in the 4th quarter worth $434,000. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its holdings in BP by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 19,753 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $584,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. 11.01% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of BP opened at $26.55 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 331.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.41. BP p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $25.22 and a 12-month high of $40.40. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $32.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.08. 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) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. Equities research analysts expect that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research set a $50.00 price target on BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. DZ Bank cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $36.73.

BP Company 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.