Scharf Investments LLC Grows Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

Scharf Investments LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 20.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,963,439 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 502,406 shares during the quarter. Occidental Petroleum accounts for about 4.5% of Scharf Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Scharf Investments LLC owned about 0.32% of Occidental Petroleum worth $146,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $209,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings 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 shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew 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 valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 274 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew 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 valued at $2,863,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Scotiabank lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.38.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.7%

Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.15. The company had a trading volume of 11,931,719 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,681,972. The company has a market capitalization of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 17.54 and a beta of 0.87. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $42.15 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.54. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 12 month low of $34.79 and a 12 month high of $64.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

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

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.22%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

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.