Empyrean Capital Partners LP Takes Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Empyrean Capital Partners LP bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 47,200 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $2,975,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. APG Asset Management N.V. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 111.1% in the 2nd quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 151,499 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $8,910,000 after buying an additional 79,727 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 80,581 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $5,077,000 after purchasing an additional 8,327 shares in the last quarter. AXA S.A. increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. AXA S.A. now owns 31,721 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,999,000 after purchasing an additional 349 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 317.6% during the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 40,512 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $2,553,000 after buying an additional 30,812 shares during the period. Finally, Gateway Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.9% in the second quarter. Gateway Advisory LLC now owns 4,847 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Petroleum Corp /De/ Occidental sold 19,500,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.75, for a total transaction of $697,125,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 165,681,578 shares in the company, valued at $5,923,116,413.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the subject of several research reports. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $81.00 to $78.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $81.00 price target on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $76.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $76.00 to $72.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $71.60.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY traded down $1.24 on Thursday, hitting $49.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,310,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,729,685. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $49.75 and a one year high of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.71 and a beta of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $56.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.26. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.91% and a net margin of 16.62%. The business had revenue of $6.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.93 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 10th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 10th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.76%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.