Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 12.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 136,774 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 19,413 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $8,167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 156,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,139,000 after acquiring an additional 12,349 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.9% in 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 period. J.P. Morgan Private Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth $29,665,000. Cullen Investment Group LTD. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $1,006,000. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 16,871 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company 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. HSBC began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.94.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of OXY stock opened at $67.39 on Wednesday. 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 50-day moving average price of $63.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.25. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $55.12 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The firm has a market cap of $59.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.24 and a beta of 1.64.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.74. The firm had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company’s revenue was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.61 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 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.