Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lowered its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 26.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 168,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 59,413 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $10,078,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. PFG Investments LLC raised its position 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 worth $417,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Conning Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.6% in the third 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. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OXY has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of 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 reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, HSBC started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $64.39 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $57.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.47 and a beta of 1.64. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $64.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.35. 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.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 7th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.