Empyrean Capital Partners LP Buys 51,000 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Empyrean Capital Partners LP lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 48.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 155,900 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 51,000 shares during the period. Empyrean Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $10,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 12.5% in the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the first quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,831,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Summit Securities Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Finally, Apella Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $54.97 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $54.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $53.68. The firm has a market cap of $54.68 billion, a PE ratio of 13.85 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 1-year low of $38.80 and a 1-year high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were given a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard A. Jackson purchased 4,770 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $62.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Stephens lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 14th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Occidental Petroleum from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $59.00 to $72.00 in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.17.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.