Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Acquired by Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 53.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,300 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 4,300 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $634,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 10,382 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 22,920 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 137,163 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $7,069,000 after acquiring an additional 10,456 shares in the last quarter. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter valued at about $10,331,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 221,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $11,440,000 after purchasing an additional 29,344 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $85.00 to $77.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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, September 27th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.70.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $49.93 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $51.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $57.49. The company has a market cap of $46.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00 and a beta of 1.58. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $48.42 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.00, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

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 dividend of $0.22 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.76%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 22.92%.

Occidental Petroleum 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.