Verity Asset Management Inc. Acquires 2,319 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 6.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 12.8% during the first quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 25,989 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,283,000 after buying an additional 2,950 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 262.5% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 135,541 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $6,690,000 after purchasing an additional 98,148 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 801,603 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,567,000 after purchasing an additional 32,117 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 5,075 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $251,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 158,750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,767 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Susquehanna decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $52.26.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of OXY stock opened at $41.23 on Monday. 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 Corporation has a 12-month low of $34.78 and a 12-month high of $53.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $40.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40 and a beta of 0.95. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $44.87 and its 200 day moving average is $43.65.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 13.78% and a net margin of 8.79%.The firm had revenue of $6.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum 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.