Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. Sells 14,035 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. lowered its stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 84.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 14,035 shares during the quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $119,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 10.3% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,504,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,718,054,000 after purchasing an additional 8,273,030 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 22.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,089,878 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $756,796,000 after purchasing an additional 3,267,269 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 926.9% in the 1st 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 buying an additional 701,846 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,584,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 22.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,552,655 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $149,247,000 after buying an additional 647,243 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 4.4%

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $40.65 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.72. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.78 and a 12-month high of $53.20. The company has a market capitalization of $40.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89 and a beta of 0.39.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 70.59%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Melius started coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, August 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $64.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $52.00 to $51.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William R. Klesse bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $38.98 per share, with a total value of $194,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 218,913 shares in the company, valued at $8,533,228.74. This represents a 2.34% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.