Two Sigma Advisers LP Invests $1.68 Million in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Two Sigma Advisers LP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 33,900 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock, valued at approximately $1,675,000.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $30,320,000 after buying an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Rule One Partners LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Rule One Partners LLC now owns 325,501 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $16,083,000 after buying an additional 50,000 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Lake Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth $618,000. Finally, Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Milestones Administradora de Recursos Ltda. now owns 193,820 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock worth $9,577,000 after purchasing an additional 18,500 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of OXY stock traded down $0.69 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.77. The stock had a trading volume of 8,911,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,268,465. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $64.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $41.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.37. The firm has a market cap of $40.12 billion, a PE ratio of 16.71 and a beta of 0.81.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 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 $6.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.97 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.63 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 13.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. Occidental Petroleum's payout ratio is currently 39.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $49.00 to $42.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $46.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $53.14.

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.