MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $8.84 Million Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 178,908 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,943 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $8,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $39.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.02. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $45.39 and a 200 day moving average of $48.43. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $34.79 and a 52-week high of $68.43.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. On average, 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.46%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the topic of several analyst reports. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Scotiabank lowered 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. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Stephens lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.33.

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.