Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 15,397 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $970,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. CapWealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. CapWealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,105 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $397,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% in the first quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 8,503 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $553,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 6,850 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 20,911 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,359,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on 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. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.21.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $51.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.94 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $49.75 and a 52-week high of $71.18. 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’s 50 day moving average is $55.76 and its 200 day moving average is $60.92.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.