Sterling Capital Management LLC Sells 18,070 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Sterling Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 43.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 18,070 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,543,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,696,716,000 after acquiring an additional 699,137 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,539,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,635,263,000 after purchasing an additional 828,848 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,846,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $771,949,000 after purchasing an additional 167,518 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,602,660 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $436,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,721 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $49.16 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $38.80 and a 1 year high of $67.45. The stock has a market cap of $48.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.14. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $56.20 and a 200 day moving average of $51.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $62.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. Piper Sandler upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $66.00 in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,261,853.24. This 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.