Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 1,075 Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Wedbush Securities Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,400 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 1,075 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,878,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the fourth quarter worth $20,574,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,225,134 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,085,253,000 after acquiring an additional 280,258 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new position in shares of BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth about $9,323,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth about $8,795,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BHP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Stock Down 5.2 %

Shares of BHP Group stock opened at $40.13 on Wednesday. BHP Group Limited has a twelve month low of $39.73 and a twelve month high of $63.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.22 and its 200 day moving average is $51.96. The company has a market cap of $101.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.12 and a beta of 0.85.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $1.00 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 4.8%. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.77%.

About BHP Group

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.