Marshall Wace LLP Purchases New Shares in California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in California Resources Co. (NYSE:CRC - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 70,614 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $3,664,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.08% of California Resources at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in California Resources in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of California Resources by 331.4% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,057 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 812 shares in the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in California Resources by 71.6% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,088 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in California Resources by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,196 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in California Resources by 518.4% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,682 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 1,410 shares during the last quarter. 97.79% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CRC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial assumed coverage on California Resources in a research report on Monday, January 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on California Resources from $64.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of California Resources from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Citigroup downgraded shares of California Resources from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $62.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of California Resources from $68.00 to $60.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.27.

California Resources Stock Performance

CRC traded up $0.91 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $35.42. 79,783 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 859,042. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $39.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.03. California Resources Co. has a 1-year low of $30.97 and a 1-year high of $60.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

California Resources (NYSE:CRC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The oil and gas producer reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.96 by ($0.05). California Resources had a return on equity of 12.16% and a net margin of 17.43%. The company had revenue of $877.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $901.36 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that California Resources Co. will post 3.85 earnings per share for the current year.

California Resources Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.3875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.55 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. California Resources's payout ratio is 37.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other California Resources news, Director James N. Chapman bought 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $39.42 per share, for a total transaction of $78,840.00. Following the transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

California Resources Profile

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.