Ascent Group LLC Acquires 365 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Ascent Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,067 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 365 shares during the period. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $508,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $553,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $445,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $69.13.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.3 %

OXY stock opened at $53.25 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.55 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $49.75 and a 1-year high of $71.18. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $55.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

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.