Earnest Partners LLC Cuts Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Earnest Partners LLC cut its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 5.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,167 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 296 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $255,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1,181.3% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 65,437 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,373,000 after acquiring an additional 60,330 shares in the last quarter. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $14,199,000. PVG Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $411,000. Blankinship & Foster LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $314,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 67.9% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 80,025 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $4,124,000 after buying an additional 32,356 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE OXY opened at $40.51 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $44.53 and its 200 day moving average is $47.93. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $68.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $38.07 billion, a PE ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released 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. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.37%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $55.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Barclays reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut 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 report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $54.19.

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.