Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. decreased its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 8.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 32,435 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,175 shares during the period. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 156,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,139,000 after buying an additional 12,349 shares in the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 8.9% in the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $343,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth $29,665,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,006,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,179 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,877,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of NYSE OXY traded down $2.09 on Tuesday, reaching $66.14. 7,339,546 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,554,053. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.42 and a 200 day moving average of $61.37. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $55.12 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.63 billion, a PE ratio of 17.20 and a beta of 1.64.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on OXY shares. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

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.