KBC Group NV Increases Stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

KBC Group NV grew its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 8.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 142,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 11,397 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $9,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,900,677 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,696,716,000 after acquiring an additional 699,137 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 39,539,743 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,635,263,000 after purchasing an additional 828,848 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,602,660 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $436,008,000 after purchasing an additional 1,883,721 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:OXY opened at $57.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $57.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.50 and a beta of 0.15. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $38.80 and a one year high of $67.45. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $54.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $53.36.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 19.98%.The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. Occidental Petroleum’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.66 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th were issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Richard A. Jackson bought 4,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. The trade was a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Roth Capital upped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $64.17.

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.