Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases New Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 13,817 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $683,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OXY has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.45.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other 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 stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $48.11 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19. 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 company has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $48.61 and its 200 day moving average is $50.01.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

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.