Sterling Capital Management LLC Decreases Position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 43.2% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,070 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caitlin John LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 155.0% in the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.7%

OXY stock opened at $49.16 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $38.80 and a fifty-two week high of $67.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $56.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.21. The company has a market cap of $48.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.14.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 19.98%.The business had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 26.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on OXY shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Susquehanna boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $63.48.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson bought 4,770 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.