Auxier Asset Management Has $449,000 Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Auxier Asset Management increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 91.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,117 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,400 shares during the quarter. Auxier Asset Management’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $449,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the period. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Able Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. New Covenant Trust Company N.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the first quarter worth $44,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the first quarter valued at $44,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OXY. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $68.00 to $65.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 target price for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $59.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.60.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $51.64 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.11 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $56.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.26. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.90 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.04 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The firm had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total value of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.