Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of BP Call Options (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 50,116 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical volume of 28,903 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new position in BP during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of BP during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. YANKCOM Partnership grew its stake in shares of BP by 1,068.3% during the fourth quarter. YANKCOM Partnership now owns 958 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in BP in the third quarter valued at $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BP shares. Argus upgraded BP to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Melius Research downgraded BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $38.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of BP from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, BP presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $37.35.

BP Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of NYSE BP traded up $1.61 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 14,958,211 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,781,721. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4,150.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.98. BP has a 1 year low of $25.22 and a 1 year high of $41.59.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $9.43. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The business had revenue of $47.38 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $42.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. BP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -19,800.00%.

BP Company Profile

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.