Peirce Capital Management LLC Takes $283,000 Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Peirce Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 4,732 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the third quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,457 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $484,000 after buying an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the third 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 period. 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 purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Conning Inc. increased 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 worth $334,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in 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 purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on OXY. HSBC began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.06.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock traded down $2.02 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $66.32. 5,658,899 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,745,822. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $58.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.89 and a beta of 1.64. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $55.12 and a twelve month high of $71.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $62.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.05.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.61 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.84 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 22.51%.

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.