Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Grows Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 16.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 169,459 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,456 shares during the quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $10,681,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at about $12,547,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 139.4% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,529 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,104,000 after acquiring an additional 45,722 shares during the period. Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $763,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 143.2% in the 4th quarter. Alberta Investment Management Corp now owns 36,475 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,178,000 after acquiring an additional 21,475 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 904,081 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,757,000 after purchasing an additional 8,863 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $52.03 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $51.79 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $58.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $61.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.13 billion, a PE ratio of 14.22 and a beta of 1.58.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.69 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 765,899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $60.28 per share, with a total value of $46,168,391.72. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 252,333,913 shares in the company, valued at $15,210,688,275.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 765,899 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $60.28 per share, for a total transaction of $46,168,391.72. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 252,333,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,210,688,275.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 2,745,563 shares of company stock valued at $164,581,732 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.50.

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.