Skylands Capital LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Skylands Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 24,873.4% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 61,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,686 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $3,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 156,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,139,000 after buying an additional 12,349 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 8.9% during the fourth quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,825 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 474 shares during the last quarter. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,665,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $1,006,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 53.9% in the fourth quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,179 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,877,000 after buying an additional 16,871 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.6 %

OXY stock traded up $0.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $68.18. 3,404,230 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,541,632. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.33 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 quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $64.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.33.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. 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 dividend yield of 1.29%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 22.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on OXY. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price for the company. Finally, Susquehanna upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Nine equities research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.