Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Purchases 66,438 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group increased its Occidental Petroleum stake by 4.1% in the first quarter, buying 66,438 shares and bringing its total holding to 1,685,169 shares worth about $109.5 million.
• Wall Street’s view is mixed: analysts currently have a consensus “Hold” rating on OXY, with a consensus price target of $64.48, even as several firms recently raised targets and issued bullish ratings.
• Occidental posted strong quarterly earnings, with EPS of $1.06 versus estimates of $0.60, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share, implying a 2.0% annual yield.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,685,169 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 66,438 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Occidental Petroleum worth $109,536,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OXY. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 224,882 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $14,669,000 after purchasing an additional 4,330 shares during the last quarter. Addison Capital Co increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 11.8% during the 1st quarter. Addison Capital Co now owns 13,715 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 1,449 shares in the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at about $282,000. Advance Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at about $211,000. Finally, Signet Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $280,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on OXY. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from an "in-line" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $64.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY traded up $0.56 during trading on Friday, reaching $52.87. 6,607,526 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,225,030. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $55.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.46. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $38.80 and a 1 year high of $67.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $52.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.32 and a beta of 0.15.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson bought 4,770 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental's operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

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