Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Shell Asset Management Co.

Shell Asset Management Co. lowered its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 42.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,689 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 12,355 shares during the quarter. Shell Asset Management Co.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OXY. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its position in 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its holdings 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. LifeSteps Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 334,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $19,984,044.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 255,281,524 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,253,071,059. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock worth $278,664,028 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target 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. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Susquehanna lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Stephens cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.31.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock traded down $0.49 during trading on Friday, hitting $60.04. 1,457,137 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,841,662. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $55.12 and a 12 month high of $71.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $61.64 and its 200 day moving average is $61.99. The stock has a market cap of $53.23 billion, a PE ratio of 16.42 and a beta of 1.61.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 17.50%. The company had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.09 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.