Renaissance Technologies LLC Increases Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 86.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 297,672 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 138,264 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $14,708,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of OXY. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY traded up $1.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $39.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,294,990 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,801,865. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $45.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.80. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $34.79 and a 52 week high of $68.43. The company has a market capitalization of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion during 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 year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Stephens dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TD Cowen lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Scotiabank downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $55.81.

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.