Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. decreased its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,597,784 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 43,327 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.18% of Occidental Petroleum worth $95,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $334,000. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 47.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 55,697 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,160,000 after acquiring an additional 17,859 shares in the last quarter. Prudential PLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $1,124,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth about $313,000. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 12.4% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 54,540 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,094,000 after purchasing an additional 6,018 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on OXY. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 28th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, HSBC assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Monday, April 8th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.06.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE OXY traded down $0.84 on Wednesday, hitting $65.98. 7,000,663 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,820,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a current ratio of 0.92. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $55.12 and a 52-week high of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $63.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $61.09.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74. The firm had revenue of $7.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 16.24% and a return on equity of 20.63%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 9.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.61 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 8th were given a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 7th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is 22.51%.

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.