Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. reduced its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 833,612 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 10,549 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $40,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 9.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mufg Securities Americas Inc. now owns 21,869 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 1,968 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.1% in the second quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 12,424 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Prosperitas Financial LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at $3,658,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 852,678 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $41,415,000 after purchasing an additional 42,107 shares during the period. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson purchased 4,770 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $59.12 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $59.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.15. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.80 and a 52-week high of $67.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $2.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.57. The company had revenue of $8.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.07 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 28.36% and a return on equity of 15.31%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 10th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Capital One Financial boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.83.

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.