New York State Common Retirement Fund Purchases 13,633 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 740,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,633 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $36,611,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 160.0% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 494 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 304 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $68,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $52.16 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.00 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.45. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $45.17 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The company has a market capitalization of $48.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.63% and a net margin of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. On average, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.90.

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.