BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 642,756 shares of the mining company’s stock after acquiring an additional 57,097 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $31,386,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in BHP Group by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 5,603,624 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $348,041,000 after purchasing an additional 642,765 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in BHP Group in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,878,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,225,134 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $1,085,253,000 after acquiring an additional 280,258 shares in the last quarter. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group during the fourth quarter worth $9,323,000. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth about $8,795,000. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Clarkson Capital raised BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $53.00.

BHP Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of BHP stock opened at $48.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $50.01 and a 200-day moving average of $52.45. The firm has a market cap of $124.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.12 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. BHP Group Limited has a 12 month low of $48.06 and a 12 month high of $63.21.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

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

About BHP Group

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.