Benin Management CORP Cuts Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Benin Management CORP decreased its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 5.2% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,454 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Benin Management CORP’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $229,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 17.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 80,230,989 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,960,202,000 after buying an additional 12,107,285 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter valued at $99,853,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 9.6% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,128,136 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $401,162,000 after purchasing an additional 710,220 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 926.9% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 777,564 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $38,381,000 after purchasing an additional 701,846 shares during the period. Finally, Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $28,584,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on OXY shares. HSBC upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $48.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 9th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.26.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $40.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $40.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a twelve month low of $34.78 and a twelve month high of $53.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $45.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $43.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.29 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 8.79% and a return on equity of 13.78%. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 10th were paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 56.80%.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

Occidental Petroleum Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of oil and gas properties in the United States, the Middle East, and North Africa. It operates through three segments: Oil and Gas, Chemical, and Midstream and Marketing. The company's Oil and Gas segment explores for, develops, and produces oil and condensate, natural gas liquids (NGLs), and natural gas.