Morgan Stanley Cuts BP (NYSE:BP) Price Target to $31.80

BP (NYSE:BP) had its target price cut by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $34.70 to $31.80 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the oil and gas exploration company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target indicates a potential upside of 2.35% from the company’s previous close.

BP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of BP from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Scotiabank cut BP from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Redburn Atlantic lowered BP from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on BP from $33.00 to $31.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered shares of BP from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, BP currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.89.

BP Stock Performance

NYSE:BP opened at $31.07 on Tuesday. BP has a 1-year low of $27.82 and a 1-year high of $40.40. The stock has a market cap of $83.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a PEG ratio of 2.13 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $29.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.07.

BP (NYSE:BP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The oil and gas exploration company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.05. BP had a return on equity of 12.91% and a net margin of 1.36%. The firm had revenue of $47.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.15 EPS. BP’s quarterly revenue was down 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that BP will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in BP in the second quarter worth about $75,000. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of BP by 41.0% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,221 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 646 shares in the last quarter. ORG Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of BP by 32.5% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 2,533 shares of the oil and gas exploration company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 621 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of BP in the third quarter worth about $91,000. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BP by 58.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 11.01% of the company’s stock.

BP Company Profile

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.