PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd Has $11.94 Million Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd cut its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 241,618 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 9,300 shares during the period. Occidental Petroleum makes up about 3.7% of PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $11,938,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,365,992,000 after buying an additional 10,434,098 shares during the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 valued at $475,389,000 after acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,600,000 after acquiring an additional 805,525 shares during the last quarter. Anson Funds Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% during the 3rd quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,453,000 after purchasing an additional 745,050 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $710,886,000 after purchasing an additional 444,850 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $48.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $48.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.89. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $44.70 and a 1 year high of $71.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Raymond James cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.82.

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.