Meridian Wealth Management LLC Has $969,000 Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC reduced its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 49.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,222 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 15,906 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% in the 4th quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on OXY. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 15th. HSBC began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Monday, April 8th. They set a “hold” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.00.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of OXY opened at $63.41 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $55.12 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The stock has a market cap of $56.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33 and a beta of 1.64. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $65.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.