National Pension Service Boosts Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

National Pension Service raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,342,292 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 34,786 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $80,148,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. TLW Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Grove Bank & Trust raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 86.0% in the fourth quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 519 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OXY shares. Mizuho upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.88.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $64.28. 2,683,195 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,414,195. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $64.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $55.12 and a one year high of $71.18. The firm has a market cap of $56.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.64.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.09 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.51%.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.