Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 32,435 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,175 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,021,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $779,983,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,651 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,995,258 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $357,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088,052 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,665,494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $302,697,000 after purchasing an additional 125,927 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 2,340,465 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $139,749,000 after buying an additional 797,894 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 600.4% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,242,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $145,520,000 after buying an additional 1,922,656 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY traded down $2.09 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $66.14. 7,339,546 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,554,053. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $55.12 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $64.42 and a 200 day moving average of $61.37.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 22.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on OXY. Raymond James decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.