Levin Capital Strategies L.P. Cuts Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Levin Capital Strategies L.P. trimmed its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 35.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 3,091 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $279,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. H&H International Investment LLC raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 7,680,598 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 worth $206,560,000 after buying an additional 98,703 shares in the last quarter. Scharf Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 805,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,973,614 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $101,720,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $48.85 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $45.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $45.17 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $49.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.06.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. Equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wolfe Research lifted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.55.

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.