Rafferty Asset Management LLC Sells 12,829 Shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) by 15.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 68,086 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 12,829 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of California Resources worth $3,533,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,345,789 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $484,953,000 after purchasing an additional 225,620 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 6,818,266 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $353,800,000 after purchasing an additional 845,694 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,327,712 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $120,785,000 after purchasing an additional 290,263 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,605,779 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $83,344,000 after purchasing an additional 13,116 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of California Resources by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,031,816 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,541,000 after purchasing an additional 57,614 shares in the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CRC. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of California Resources from $64.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 13th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of California Resources in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of California Resources from $68.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of California Resources from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.36.

California Resources Stock Down 0.4%

CRC stock traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.07. 441,794 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 870,611. The firm's 50-day moving average is $38.98 and its 200-day moving average is $47.00. The company has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.63, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 0.97 and a quick ratio of 0.89. California Resources Co. has a 12 month low of $30.97 and a 12 month high of $60.41.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $912.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $862.14 million. California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.75 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that California Resources Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 30th will be issued a $0.3875 dividend. This represents a $1.55 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. California Resources's payout ratio is 28.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James N. Chapman acquired 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.42 per share, for a total transaction of $78,840.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 43,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,712,601.90. The trade was a 4.83% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About California Resources

California Resources Corporation operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production, and carbon management company in the United States. The company explores, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids for marketers, California refineries, and other purchasers that have access to transportation and storage facilities.