KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Purchases New Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 177,950 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $8,825,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OXY. H&H International Investment LLC grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after buying an additional 7,680,598 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $121,600,000 after acquiring an additional 805,525 shares during the period. Anson Funds Management LP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% during the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,453,000 after acquiring an additional 745,050 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,886,000 after acquiring an additional 444,850 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $146,184,000 after purchasing an additional 377,952 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.1 %

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $47.91 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.64 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $48.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.93.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on OXY. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Raymond James cut Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note 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, Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.