Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 10,434,098 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 18.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,434,098 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.07% of Occidental Petroleum worth $3,365,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC lifted its stake in 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 valued at $121,600,000 after acquiring an additional 805,525 shares in the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% during the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,453,000 after acquiring an additional 745,050 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.45.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of OXY opened at $49.05 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.91. 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 $44.70 and a one year high of $71.19. The company has a market cap of $46.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 1.51.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.