Alta Capital Management LLC Acquires New Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Alta Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,077 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $498,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $777,000 after buying an additional 10,382 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after buying an additional 50,983 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $2,509,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $46.36 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.94. The stock has a market cap of $43.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.00 and a beta of 1.55. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.07%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on OXY. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 2,477,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction of $114,577,992.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 257,758,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,921,348,477.50. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.