Legal & General Group Plc Increases Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,884,572 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,131 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $159,734,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 68.5% during the fourth quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Garner Asset Management Corp acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Elyxium Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 96.9% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.0%

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $56.86 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.81. The company has a market cap of $56.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.32 and a beta of 0.17. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.80 and a 12-month high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.33 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

Key Headlines Impacting Occidental Petroleum

Here are the key news stories impacting Occidental Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Barclays upgraded Occidental Petroleum to Overweight and lifted its price target to $72 from $59, citing the setup for a multi-year oil boom and stronger cash flow potential from tighter global supply. Barclays sees multi-year oil boom, sees upside in OXY, Devon and ConocoPhillips
• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho also raised its price target on OXY to $75 from $72 and kept an Outperform rating, reinforcing the view that the shares still have meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Mizuho price target increase
• Positive Sentiment: Reuters reported that Occidental is taking a 10% stake in Exxon Mobil’s deepwater exploration block offshore Trinidad and Tobago, which could expand its international exploration exposure and add to future growth prospects. Exclusive: Occidental takes 10% stake in Exxon deepwater block offshore Trinidad, sources say
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks published a value-investor analysis asking whether OXY is attractive at current levels, but the item mainly reiterates standard valuation and estimate-revision screening rather than delivering a fresh catalyst. Should Value Investors Buy Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Stock?
• Neutral Sentiment: A 24/7 Wall St. feature highlighted a large long-term winning OXY trade that has grown into a major portfolio concentration issue; this is more investor commentary than a direct company-specific catalyst. From $90K Bet to $800K Windfall: When Does a Winning Oil Trade Become a Retirement Risk?
• Negative Sentiment: Broader market coverage noted weakness in energy producers, which may be contributing to the stock’s recent softness despite the bullish analyst updates. Stocks Pressured by Weakness in Energy Producers and Cybersecurity Stocks

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 6th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.61.

Occidental Petroleum 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.