Generali Investments Management Co LLC Takes Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 25,616 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,266,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. H&H International Investment LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $121,600,000 after buying an additional 805,525 shares during the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% during 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 buying an additional 745,050 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% during 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 buying an additional 377,952 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

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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 cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $48.11. 23,294,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,969,351. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.04.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during 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, equities 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 paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is presently 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.