United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Invests $1.36 Million in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 27,960 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $1,358,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Pension Service grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,084,356 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $44,589,000 after purchasing an additional 124,879 shares during the period. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $12,868,205,000. Hosking Partners LLP grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 577,368 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $23,741,000 after acquiring an additional 27,030 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 7.2% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,168,414 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $140,947,000 after acquiring an additional 145,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,685,169 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $109,536,000 after acquiring an additional 66,438 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $59.12 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $38.80 and a one year high of $67.45. The stock has a market cap of $59.10 billion, a PE ratio of 9.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.41. 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 analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 15.31% and a net margin of 28.36%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 53.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 6.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.26. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.10%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $63.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.83.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.