Skylands Capital LLC Lowers Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Key Points

• Skylands Capital LLC trimmed its position in Occidental Petroleum by 71.4% in Q4, selling 77,250 shares and retaining 30,910 shares valued at roughly $1.27 million.
• Analysts' consensus on OXY is a Hold with a consensus target price of $61.83, reflecting mixed revisions (1 Strong Buy, 8 Buy, 15 Hold, 2 Sell) and several recent price-target changes.
• Occidental raised its quarterly dividend to $0.26 ($1.04 annualized), yielding about 1.8% and implying a payout ratio near 64.6%.

Skylands Capital LLC trimmed its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 71.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,910 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 77,250 shares during the quarter. Skylands Capital LLC's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,271,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Apella Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $573,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC now owns 6,652 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 32,734 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,547,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cigna Investments Inc. New increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 6,809 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $321,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Capital One Financial lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $67.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 13th. Argus raised Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $63.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $59.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, March 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.83.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.3%

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $57.27 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $38.72 and a one year high of $67.45. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $57.07 and a 200 day moving average of $47.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $56.79 billion, a PE ratio of 35.57 and a beta of 0.23.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 9.14%.The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.80 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 4.01 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.60%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental's operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

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