472,908 Shares in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY Acquired by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Key Points

• Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired 472,908 shares of Occidental Petroleum in Q3 (about $22.35M), making OXY its 11th-largest holding and roughly 0.7% of the firm's portfolio.
• Occidental raised its quarterly dividend to $0.26 (annualized $1.04) with an ex-dividend date of March 10 and payment scheduled for April 15, implying a yield of about 1.8%.
• Director William R. Klesse purchased 5,000 shares at an average price of $38.98, increasing his direct stake to 218,913 shares and indicating insider buying interest.

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 472,908 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $22,345,000. Occidental Petroleum comprises about 0.7% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 15,555 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Inscription Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Inscription Capital LLC now owns 32,734 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,547,000 after buying an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Cigna Investments Inc. New now owns 6,809 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 2.7% in the third quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 11,330 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.3% in the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC now owns 22,904 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,082,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, Director William R. Klesse acquired 5,000 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.98 per share, with a total value of $194,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 218,913 shares in the company, valued at $8,533,228.74. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on OXY shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $48.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 23rd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $48.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, February 23rd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Susquehanna raised their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Occidental Petroleum to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $53.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $57.91 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.53 and a 200-day moving average of $44.61. The company has a market capitalization of $57.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.97 and a beta of 0.34. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 1 year low of $34.78 and a 1 year high of $59.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.74.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 9.14% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The business had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.80 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.60%.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental's operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

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