The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires 1,945 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 527,412 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,945 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned approximately 0.06% of Occidental Petroleum worth $33,243,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Focus Financial Network Inc. ADV purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $255,000. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 65,639 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,919,000 after buying an additional 20,428 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 181,162 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $10,817,000 after acquiring an additional 22,876 shares in the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.6% during the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 11,236 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 2,427 shares during the last quarter. Finally, NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 9,372 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $560,000 after acquiring an additional 1,914 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $81.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $76.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.13.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE OXY opened at $51.54 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.08 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 1.04. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $49.75 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. The company had revenue of $6.88 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.93 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

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.