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

Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,173 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 762 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 16.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,707,555 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $233,687,000 after purchasing an additional 532,318 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 20.1% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,661,231 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $104,707,000 after buying an additional 277,462 shares during the period. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 133,546 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 22,920 shares during the period. Finally, Himalaya Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the second quarter worth $92,433,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $51.12 on Thursday. 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 one year low of $48.42 and a one year high of $71.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $51.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.31 and a beta of 1.58.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $58.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $77.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $64.30.

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.