New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 33,006 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 6.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 490,042 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 33,006 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.05% of Occidental Petroleum worth $24,188,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the 1st quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American National Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 9th. Barclays increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.38.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $1.05 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.91. 8,776,114 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,760,017. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a current ratio of 1.01. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.41. The firm has a market cap of $43.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 0.84. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $64.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.60% and a net margin of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.97 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 39.02%.

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.