Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Purchases 30,416 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 181,429 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 30,416 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $8,964,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OXY. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,007,770 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $206,560,000 after purchasing an additional 98,703 shares during the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during 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 purchasing an additional 805,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $48.87 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.21. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $45.17 and a twelve month high of $71.18. 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 company has a market capitalization of $45.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 1.55.

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. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Equities analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.96%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 acquisition, 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last quarter. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

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.