Geneva Partners LLC Sells 7,375 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Geneva Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 41.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,585 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 7,375 shares during the period. Geneva Partners LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $484,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the third 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 in the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Conning Inc. boosted its stake in 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 buying an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of OXY traded up $0.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,758,968 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,809,430. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $55.12 and a 52-week high of $71.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $63.39 and its 200-day moving average is $61.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.04 and a beta of 1.64. 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 (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The firm had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.74 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. 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. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.06.

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.