Virtu Financial LLC Buys Shares of 33,544 BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP)

Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of BHP Group Limited (NYSE:BHP) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 33,544 shares of the mining company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,638,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in BHP Group during the 4th quarter valued at $4,216,000. Palogic Value Management L.P. boosted its stake in BHP Group by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Palogic Value Management L.P. now owns 82,496 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $4,028,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in BHP Group by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 9,533 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 1,894 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its stake in BHP Group by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,222 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in BHP Group by 28.2% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 8,003 shares of the mining company’s stock valued at $391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,759 shares during the last quarter. 3.79% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

BHP Group Stock Performance

NYSE:BHP opened at $49.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $52.54. BHP Group Limited has a 52-week low of $48.06 and a 52-week high of $63.21. 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 capitalization of $124.82 billion, a PE ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 0.90.

BHP Group Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a dividend of $1.00 per share. This represents a yield of 4.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. BHP Group’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.77%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on BHP shares. Clarkson Capital upgraded BHP Group to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on BHP Group from $57.00 to $53.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded BHP Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.