Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Purchases 1,695 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. grew its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 13.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 13,995 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC increased 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 acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was 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 $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $48.84 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $48.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.87. The company has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. 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 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. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Mizuho decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

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.