Schechter Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Holdings in BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP)

Schechter Investment Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) by 51.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,115 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock after selling 13,000 shares during the period. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in BP were worth $358,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Asset Planning Inc bought a new stake in BP during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Bank & Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of BP by 404.8% during the 4th quarter. Bank & Trust Co now owns 2,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $63,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in BP by 41.0% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC grew its position in BP by 58.7% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 3,120 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of BP by 1,867.9% during the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 7,970 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 7,565 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BP Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of BP stock opened at $31.90 on Thursday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.32. BP p.l.c. has a 12-month low of $27.82 and a 12-month 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 company has a market cap of $85.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 398.74, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.12). BP had a return on equity of 10.96% and a net margin of 0.20%. Research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 EPS for the current year.

BP Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.02%. BP’s payout ratio is 2,375.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on BP. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating on shares of BP in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. StockNews.com cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised BP from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. DZ Bank cut BP from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on BP from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.26.

About BP

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.