Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Key Points

• Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. cut its Occidental Petroleum stake by 65.9% in the first quarter, selling 70,000 shares and leaving it with 36,250 shares worth about $2.36 million.
• Occidental reported Q1 earnings of $1.06 per share, well above the $0.60 analyst estimate, though revenue of $5.11 billion came in below expectations and fell 8.3% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.26 per share and saw CEO Richard A. Jackson buy 4,770 shares, while analysts currently rate the stock a Hold on average with a $64.48 price target.

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 65.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,250 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 70,000 shares during the quarter. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.'s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $2,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,765 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% in the first quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,547 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apella Capital LLC lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 7,019 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $54.80 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $54.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.21. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a one year low of $38.80 and a one year high of $67.45. The firm has a market cap of $54.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.15.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 9.65% and a net margin of 19.98%.Occidental Petroleum's quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on OXY. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. HSBC upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $60.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $64.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $64.48.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson bought 4,770 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Company Profile

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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