Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 781,511 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Sarasin & Partners LLP trimmed its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 78.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 209,010 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 781,511 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $10,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the period. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $554,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 20.2% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,631 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 57,934 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,863,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. TD Cowen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Three 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.14.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE OXY traded up $0.93 on Wednesday, hitting $44.84. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,311,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,342,948. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $64.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.93. The firm has a market cap of $44.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.38 and a beta of 0.87.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. 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.