LPL Financial LLC Sells 53,870 Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

LPL Financial LLC trimmed its holdings in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 18.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 244,889 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 53,870 shares during the quarter. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $11,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of BHP Group by 17.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 153,170 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $9,513,000 after acquiring an additional 22,677 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 10.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,434,417 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $89,092,000 after purchasing an additional 129,908 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of BHP Group during the third quarter valued at about $227,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 42.9% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,169 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of BHP Group by 181.1% in the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,701 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,039,000 after buying an additional 10,760 shares in the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BHP Group Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:BHP opened at $47.93 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $49.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $52.36. BHP Group Limited has a one year low of $47.30 and a one year high of $63.21. The firm has a market cap of $121.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.89 and a beta of 0.90.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $1.00 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a yield of 4.8%. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on BHP shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Clarkson Capital upgraded shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, BHP Group has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

BHP Group Profile

BHP Group Limited operates as a resources company in Australia, Europe, China, Japan, India, South Korea, the rest of Asia, North America, South America, and internationally. The company operates through Copper, Iron Ore, and Coal segments. It engages in the mining of copper, uranium, gold, zinc, lead, molybdenum, silver, iron ore, cobalt, and metallurgical and energy coal.