BP Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders bought 1,099,171 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 3,260% compared to the typical volume of 32,718 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of BP by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 940,786 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $27,810,000 after purchasing an additional 38,759 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its holdings in BP by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 660,538 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $19,526,000 after acquiring an additional 14,436 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of BP by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 474,957 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $14,040,000 after purchasing an additional 110,019 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS raised its holdings in shares of BP by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS now owns 465,242 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,753,000 after purchasing an additional 10,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of BP by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 440,973 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $13,842,000 after acquiring an additional 5,150 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of BP traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $34.69. The stock had a trading volume of 10,448,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,345,408. BP has a fifty-two week low of $27.82 and a fifty-two week high of $40.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market cap of $92.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 433.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.36.

BP (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.20% and a return on equity of 10.96%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.48 per share. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.54%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently 2,375.30%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of BP from $34.70 to $31.80 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. DZ Bank cut shares of BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.64.

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.