BP p.l.c. $BP Shares Acquired by First Command Advisory Services Inc.

First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 340.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,007 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,695 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in BP were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in BP. Curry Webb Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA purchased a new position in BP during the 2nd quarter worth $36,000. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in BP by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 991 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $44,000 after buying an additional 496 shares in the last quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc acquired a new position in BP during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Gill Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in BP by 53.2% in the second quarter. Gill Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Stock Performance

Shares of BP opened at $45.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $46.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.30. BP p.l.c. has a one year low of $33.22 and a one year high of $51.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market cap of $118.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 0.16.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $3.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $68.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.14 billion. BP had a return on equity of 24.67% and a net margin of 3.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 41.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that BP p.l.c. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 18th. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.5196 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.6%. BP’s payout ratio is 60.29%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on BP shares. Evercore raised BP to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group lowered shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of BP in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Freedom Capital raised shares of BP from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $51.30 in a research report on Friday, September 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.90.

BP Profile

BP p.l.c. is a global integrated energy company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. Its operations span the exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, as well as the processing, refining, transportation and marketing of energy products. Through its businesses, BP supplies fuels for road transportation, aviation and marine use, along with lubricants marketed under the Castrol brand. The company also operates retail fuel and convenience locations and provides energy products and services to commercial and industrial customers.