Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lowered its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,859 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,467 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 57,934 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $2,863,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.7 %

OXY opened at $47.31 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.88 and its 200-day moving average is $50.20. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $44.70 and a one year high of $71.19. The company has a market capitalization of $44.40 billion, a PE ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors 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 2.03%. This is a boost 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

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.