Northern Trust Corp Purchases 491,797 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 7.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,065,061 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after buying an additional 491,797 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.75% of Occidental Petroleum worth $349,085,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Certified Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $30,320,000 after buying an additional 6,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock valued at $48,942,000 after buying an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank cut Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, April 11th. TD Cowen lowered Occidental Petroleum from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.19.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company's stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of OXY stock opened at $39.42 on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $65.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $44.07 and a 200-day moving average of $47.82. The company has a market capitalization of $37.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.16 and a beta of 1.02.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum's previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

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.

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