Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Purchased by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 18.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after acquiring an additional 10,434,098 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 7.26% of Occidental Petroleum worth $3,365,992,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OXY. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth $874,000. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 70,580 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $3,638,000 after buying an additional 15,316 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 22.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,450 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,106,000 after acquiring an additional 3,937 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 50.7% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 282,054 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $14,537,000 after acquiring an additional 94,856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 12.9% in the third quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 81,606 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $4,206,000 after purchasing an additional 9,320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on OXY. Mizuho cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $59.82.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum 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, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 1.3 %

OXY stock traded down $0.67 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $48.84. 7,892,518 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,245,959. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $44.70 and a 12-month high of $71.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $48.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $49.87.

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 EPS for the quarter, beating 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, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

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.