Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 36,700 Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 36,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $2,386,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of OXY. Athena Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% in the first quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,831,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 13,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $573,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY stock opened at $49.16 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 0.14. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $56.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.21. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $38.80 and a 52-week high of $67.45.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.79 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Susquehanna raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $63.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.48.

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.