Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Grows Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 121.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,886 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 17,496 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 120.5% in the fourth quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,121 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159 shares during the period. Allstate Corp purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $942,000. DnB Asset Management AS boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 127,433 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $6,296,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 767.4% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $75,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on OXY shares. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup cut their price target 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, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE OXY traded up $0.58 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $49.41. The company had a trading volume of 6,546,131 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,238,974. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $44.70 and a 52 week high of $71.19. The business's 50-day moving average is $48.28 and its 200-day moving average is $49.87. The stock has a market cap of $46.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.25 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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. Equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is 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.