Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 174,600 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 56.6% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 134,030 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 174,600 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $8,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. National Pension Service boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,084,356 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,589,000 after purchasing an additional 124,879 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,696,716,000 after purchasing an additional 699,137 shares during the period. Hosking Partners LLP raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 577,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $23,741,000 after buying an additional 27,030 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 22.9% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 120,385 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,950,000 after buying an additional 22,439 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 7.2% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,168,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $140,947,000 after buying an additional 145,100 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Susquehanna upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Evercore raised Occidental Petroleum from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE OXY opened at $57.32 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.81 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.59. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.80 and a 12-month high of $67.45. The firm has a market cap of $57.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.44 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 19.98%.The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.66 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.