Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Sells 19,413 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lowered its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 19,413 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $8,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% during the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Barclays started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. HSBC assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Scotiabank raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $67.39 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.25. The company has a market capitalization of $59.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.64. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $55.12 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.92 and a quick ratio of 0.69.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.51%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.