BP (NYSE:BP) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Shares of BP p.l.c. (NYSE:BP) crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $33.97 and traded as high as $34.61. BP shares last traded at $34.39, with a volume of 7,541,022 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of BP from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of BP from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of BP from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of BP in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of BP in a report on Thursday, October 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.23.

BP Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a current ratio of 1.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.97.

BP (NYSE:BP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $48.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $43.76 billion. BP had a return on equity of 9.07% and a net margin of 0.79%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.83 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that BP p.l.c. will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

BP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th were given a dividend of $0.4992 per share. This is a boost from BP’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.49. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.8%. BP’s payout ratio is presently 341.38%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On BP

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new position in BP in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of BP in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of BP in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Acima Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Triumph Capital Management bought a new stake in BP during the third quarter worth approximately $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

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.