South Street Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

South Street Advisors LLC reduced its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 91.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,480 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 139,306 shares during the period. South Street Advisors LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $617,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on OXY shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. UBS Group raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE OXY opened at $47.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $44.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $44.70 and a one year high of $71.19. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $48.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.20.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.