Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 20.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,322 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 908 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of OXY. PFG Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 6,423 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $957,000 after buying an additional 174 shares during the period. Conning Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.6% during the third quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 5,146 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $334,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.2% during the third quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,971 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $582,000 after acquiring an additional 191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 4,904 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on OXY shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of 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 note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays began 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. HSBC assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. 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 an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.00.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $63.69 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $56.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.64. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $55.12 and a 1-year high of $71.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 yield of 1.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.