USS Investment Management Ltd Invests $2.19 Million in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

USS Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 44,404 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $2,194,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 56.0% during the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 7,984 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 2,865 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 31.8% in the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,517 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $371,000 after buying an additional 1,814 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $248,000. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $247,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on OXY shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays raised 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. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.14.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY traded down $0.47 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.15. The company had a trading volume of 6,699,602 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,217,988. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $64.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Occidental Petroleum's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.