Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Purchases 290 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 57,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $2,863,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of OXY. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the 3rd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:OXY opened at $48.64 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $49.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.18. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12 month low of $45.17 and a 12 month high of $71.18. 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 cap of $45.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on OXY shares. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 2,477,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $114,577,992.50. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 257,758,886 shares in the company, valued at $11,921,348,477.50. The trade was a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.