HM Payson & Co. Reduces Stake in BP p.l.c. (BP)

HM Payson & Co. cut its position in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 17.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 88,899 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 18,619 shares during the period. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in BP p.l.c. were worth $3,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC increased its position in BP p.l.c. by 0.5% in the first quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 4,878 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $169,000 after buying an additional 26 shares during the period. Plancorp LLC increased its position in BP p.l.c. by 0.3% in the first quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 12,697 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 36 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co. increased its position in BP p.l.c. by 0.7% in the first quarter. Cambridge Trust Co. now owns 7,283 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $251,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in BP p.l.c. by 0.5% in the first quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 14,046 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Peddock Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in BP p.l.c. by 1.7% in the first quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,803 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $200,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.99% of the company’s stock.

BP p.l.c. (BP) opened at 35.10 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.20. BP p.l.c. has a 12 month low of $32.50 and a 12 month high of $38.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.04 billion, a PE ratio of 52.23 and a beta of 0.94.

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.46 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $55.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.87 billion. BP p.l.c. had a return on equity of 3.72% and a net margin of 1.06%. The company’s revenue was up 45.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.17 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post $1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 12th were issued a $0.595 dividend. This represents a $2.38 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 10th. BP p.l.c.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 366.16%.

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Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on BP shares. Zacks Investment Research upgraded BP p.l.c. from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 6th. Jefferies Group LLC set a $36.00 price target on BP p.l.c. and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 17th. Macquarie downgraded BP p.l.c. from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 21st. Bank of America Corporation downgraded BP p.l.c. from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 30th. Finally, Simmons raised their price target on BP p.l.c. from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. BP p.l.c. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $36.10.

BP p.l.c. Company Profile

BP p.l.c. is an integrated oil and gas company. The Company owns an interest in OJSC Oil Company Rosneft (Rosneft), an oil and gas company. The Company’s segments include Upstream, Downstream, Rosneft, and Other businesses and corporate. The Upstream segment is engaged in oil and natural gas exploration, field development and production, as well as midstream transportation, storage and processing.