Allstate Corp Invests $942,000 in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,074 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $942,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434,098 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during the fourth quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,600,000 after purchasing an additional 805,525 shares in the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% in the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,453,000 after buying an additional 745,050 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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 research note on Thursday, March 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.82.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.2 %

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $49.41 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50-day moving average is $48.22 and its 200-day moving average is $49.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $46.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.25 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.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

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.