Vise Technologies Inc. Boosts Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 129.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,191 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 9,140 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 9th. TD Cowen cut 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 report on Tuesday, April 8th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three research 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $53.14.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE OXY traded down $0.47 on Wednesday, hitting $41.15. The stock had a trading volume of 6,703,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,237,861. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $64.76. The company has a market capitalization of $40.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.86 and a beta of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average of $46.54.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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