Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by WINTON GROUP Ltd

WINTON GROUP Ltd lessened its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 63.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,825 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 46,817 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OXY. Howard Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% in the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Three equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $49.47 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $44.70 and a 1 year high of $71.19. The company has a market capitalization of $46.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.94%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

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.