Balefire LLC Purchases 311 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

Balefire LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 5.3% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,138 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. Balefire LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $303,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% in the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $43.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.87. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $64.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.54.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.22%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.38.

Occidental Petroleum 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.