Royal Fund Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Royal Fund Management LLC trimmed its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 68.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,156 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 28,524 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $786,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Everhart Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $417,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Conning Inc. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,146 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 15th. Scotiabank raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. 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. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of OXY stock traded down $0.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $64.39. The stock had a trading volume of 6,771,518 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,759,409. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $55.12 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $64.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.42. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 22.51%.

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.