Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 5,487 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 954,772 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 5,487 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.10% of Occidental Petroleum worth $47,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $54.19.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.4 %

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $40.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $37.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.54 and a beta of 1.02. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $44.29 and a 200-day moving average of $47.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $34.79 and a one year high of $68.17.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.38%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

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.