Marshall Wace LLP Buys 1,337,728 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 48.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,117,777 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,337,728 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.44% of Occidental Petroleum worth $203,459,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,357,689 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $314,133,000 after acquiring an additional 1,278,389 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $121,600,000 after acquiring an additional 805,525 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $701,816,000 after purchasing an additional 398,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its stake 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 valued at $146,184,000 after purchasing an additional 377,952 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $55.81.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 3.3 %

OXY stock traded up $1.27 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.72. The stock had a trading volume of 13,284,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,832,101. 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 twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $68.43. The firm has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $48.63.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was 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%.

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.