Bridgewater Associates LP Sells 16,950 Shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Bridgewater Associates LP decreased its position in BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) by 35.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 31,030 shares of the mining company’s stock after selling 16,950 shares during the quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP’s holdings in BHP Group were worth $1,515,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 22,225,134 shares of the mining company’s stock worth $1,085,253,000 after acquiring an additional 280,258 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of BHP Group by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 642,756 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $31,386,000 after purchasing an additional 57,097 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of BHP Group by 10.1% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 600,086 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $37,271,000 after purchasing an additional 55,095 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,878,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of BHP Group in the 4th quarter worth approximately $20,574,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 3.79% of the company’s stock.

BHP Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:BHP opened at $46.59 on Friday. 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 market cap of $118.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.59 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.18. BHP Group Limited has a fifty-two week low of $39.73 and a fifty-two week high of $63.21.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 27th. Investors 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 44.77%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BHP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. StockNews.com lowered shares of BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Clarkson Capital raised shares of BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $53.00.

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.