Bridges Investment Management Inc. Takes Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 18,327 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,155,000.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.60.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $51.64 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $56.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.26. The firm has a market cap of $46.77 billion, a PE ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $49.90 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.