Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY Shares Acquired by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 1.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,295,650 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,520 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $84,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Portus Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 148.6% in the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 696 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares in the last quarter. Caitlin John LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted 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 during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $47.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Stephens cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.17.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $54.89 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $54.60 billion, a PE ratio of 13.83 and a beta of 0.15. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.80 and a fifty-two week high of $67.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $54.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.04. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.14 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were given a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

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.