Leavell Investment Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 3.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $323,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Fiera Capital Corp grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 8,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $212,000. Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 49.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 2,403 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $124,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 9.9% during the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 3,889 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $200,000 after acquiring an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dudley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dudley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $206,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on OXY. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $77.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.78.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $50.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $49.51 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $52.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $58.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.76 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45 and a beta of 1.58.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.67%.

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.