Saxon Interests Inc. Purchases New Shares in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Saxon Interests Inc. 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 SEC. The fund acquired 5,740 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $343,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Berkshire Hathaway Inc raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter. Berkshire Hathaway Inc now owns 224,129,192 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $13,178,796,000 after acquiring an additional 12,422,073 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth about $267,173,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 24.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,021,929 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $779,983,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334,651 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 600.4% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,242,910 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $145,520,000 after buying an additional 1,922,656 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 87.9% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,276,078 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $185,885,000 after buying an additional 1,532,100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:OXY traded up $0.79 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $64.99. 7,105,514 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,742,230. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $60.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.82. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $55.12 and a one year high of $67.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.69 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 15th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 20.63% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $7.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.93 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.61 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 8th will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 7th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 22.51%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $68.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $78.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $74.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $70.19.

Occidental Petroleum 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.