DnB Asset Management AS Acquires 5,500 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

DnB Asset Management AS grew its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,433 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the quarter. DnB Asset Management AS's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $6,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during 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 raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% in the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $39,453,000 after purchasing an additional 745,050 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 8.9 %

Shares of NYSE OXY traded down $4.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $44.96. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,419,584 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,196,026. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $44.70 and a one year high of $71.19. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $48.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $42.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.43 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.14%. 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 is currently 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and cut their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $59.82.

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.