Stock Traders Buy High Volume of BP Call Options (NYSE:BP)

BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) saw unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 50,116 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 73% compared to the typical volume of 28,903 call options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On BP

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ORG Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of BP by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,038 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Corp boosted its stake in shares of BP by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Corp now owns 3,933 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 296 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of BP by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 6,597 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its stake in BP by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 36,721 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 330 shares during the period. Finally, United Community Bank lifted its holdings in BP by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. United Community Bank now owns 29,456 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $1,023,000 after buying an additional 370 shares in the last quarter. 11.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

BP Stock Up 4.0%

NYSE BP opened at $41.55 on Thursday. BP has a one year low of $25.22 and a one year high of $41.59. The company has a market capitalization of $108.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -4,150.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.26.

BP (NYSE:BP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $10.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $9.43. BP had a return on equity of 9.68% and a net margin of 0.03%.The business had revenue of $47.38 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.19 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that BP will post 3.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

BP Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4992 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.8%. BP’s dividend payout ratio is currently -19,700.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BP has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of BP to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of BP from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore set a $38.00 price target on shares of BP and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Scotiabank set a $41.00 price objective on BP in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Finally, Melius Research cut BP from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $37.35.

About BP

BP plc is a British multinational integrated energy company headquartered in London. Originating in the early 20th century as the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, BP has grown into one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, operating across exploration and production, refining and marketing, trading, and a range of low-carbon businesses.

The company’s core activities include upstream exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas, midstream and trading operations, and downstream refining, marketing and supply of fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals.