Carson Advisory Inc. Decreases Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Carson Advisory Inc. cut its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 25.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,515 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,947 shares during the quarter. Carson Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $777,000 after buying an additional 10,382 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,163 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $7,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the second quarter worth approximately $10,331,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 15.2% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 221,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $11,440,000 after purchasing an additional 29,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Murphy Pohlad Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth approximately $593,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.78.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE OXY opened at $50.52 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $52.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.44 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $49.51 and a 12-month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released 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 firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was up 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.29 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 21.67%.

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.