Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Boosts Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 43.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,545 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 8,610 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,410,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 10,382 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $48,942,000 after buying an additional 50,983 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 3,614,015 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on OXY. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $61.90.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 3.2 %

OXY traded down $1.68 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $50.42. 13,869,302 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,758,816. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company's fifty day moving average price is $49.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.45. The company has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. 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 payout ratio is presently 36.07%.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.