Verus Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 17.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,173 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $267,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,707,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $233,687,000 after buying an additional 532,318 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 20.1% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,661,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $104,707,000 after acquiring an additional 277,462 shares during the period. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,556,461 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $80,220,000 after purchasing an additional 133,546 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,482,049 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $76,385,000 after purchasing an additional 22,920 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Himalaya Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $92,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.30.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $51.12 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $46.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.58. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $51.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.72. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $48.42 and a 12-month high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.72%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 22.92%.

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.