31,021 Shares in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Sciencast Management LP bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 31,021 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,533,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 22.5% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 9,160 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $472,000 after purchasing an additional 1,685 shares in the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $685,000. Commerce Bank lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 30,246 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,559,000 after buying an additional 1,181 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $874,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 10.9% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,508 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $2,191,000 after acquiring an additional 4,174 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

OXY has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James cut Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "equal weight" rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $60.45.

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Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of OXY stock traded up $1.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $49.05. The company had a trading volume of 11,100,228 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,005,434. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.91. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $44.70 and a 12 month high of $71.19. The company has a market cap of $46.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, research 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 disclosed 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 positive change from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

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.