Flaharty Asset Management LLC Cuts Position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Flaharty Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 37.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,607 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,700 shares during the period. Flaharty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 17.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,230,989 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,960,202,000 after purchasing an additional 12,107,285 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,089,878 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $756,796,000 after buying an additional 3,267,269 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $99,853,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 9.6% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,128,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $401,162,000 after acquiring an additional 710,220 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 926.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 777,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $38,381,000 after acquiring an additional 701,846 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.7%

OXY stock opened at $42.75 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.78 and a 12 month high of $53.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.74 and its 200 day moving average is $43.69. The company has a market capitalization of $42.12 billion, a PE ratio of 25.29 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.83.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $6.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.66 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 13.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.00 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $51.24.

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.