Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 939,538 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 50,983 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned approximately 0.10% of Occidental Petroleum worth $48,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $30,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $618,000. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. now owns 193,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $9,577,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Investment Counsel LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $499,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Raymond James cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $53.14.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.4%

OXY stock traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $42.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,602,544 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,262,683. The firm has a market cap of $41.41 billion, a PE ratio of 17.25 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $64.76. The company's 50-day moving average price is $41.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.19.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Occidental Petroleum's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.63 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.02%.

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.