Verity Asset Management Inc. Raises Stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY)

Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 92.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,328 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 18,415 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 129.2% during the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 722 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $42.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Stephens cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.38.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of OXY traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $42.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,838,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,716,801. The stock's 50 day moving average is $42.27 and its 200 day moving average is $45.43. The firm has a market cap of $42.09 billion, a PE ratio of 17.34 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.01 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.20% and a return on equity of 16.60%. The company had revenue of $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.97 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.24%. 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.