Signaturefd LLC Grows Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 84.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,616 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 6,678 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $722,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,349,000 after purchasing an additional 229,210 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $146,184,000 after purchasing an additional 377,952 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,600,000 after purchasing an additional 805,525 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $47.96 on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $48.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.12. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.45.

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.