Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.

Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc. reduced its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 3.3% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,635 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Pekin Hardy Strauss Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,868,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CapWealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $397,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the 1st quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the first quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on OXY. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.33.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY stock opened at $51.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $46.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $49.90 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $57.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.52.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.62% and a return on equity of 17.91%. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.