Vinva Investment Management Ltd Grows Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 57.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,635 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 6,466 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $855,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $47.99 on Friday. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.11. The firm has a market cap of $45.04 billion, a PE ratio of 19.67 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. 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 given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

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

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.