J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 19.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,558 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,041 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. PFG Advisors purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $219,000. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 82.6% in the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 11,341 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $736,000 after buying an additional 5,130 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $206,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,473 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $160,000 after purchasing an additional 839 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 102.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 32,128 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,085,000 after purchasing an additional 16,240 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. 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 research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $67.39 on Wednesday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $55.12 and a 52-week high of $71.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average is $63.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $61.25.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Occidental Petroleum 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.