Ascent Group LLC Sells 337 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Ascent Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 337 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Scotiabank downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $50.00 to $48.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $53.14.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY stock opened at $41.60 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $41.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $46.54. The company has a market capitalization of $40.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.05 and a beta of 0.81. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $64.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.97 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.31%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.02%.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.