Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY - Free Report) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 102,612 shares of the oil and gas producer's stock after selling 8,093 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $5,070,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of several research reports. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $58.00 to $46.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a "sector outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, April 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Three 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.93. 4,434,400 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,864,569. The firm has a market capitalization of $37.52 billion, a PE ratio of 16.35 and a beta of 1.02. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $34.79 and a fifty-two week high of $65.99. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $44.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.82. 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 (NYSE:OXY - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. Occidental Petroleum's dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.