Ballentine Partners LLC Purchases New Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,316 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $216,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $957,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 23,523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,405,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 10,356 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $618,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 13,180 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $787,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 40,311 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $62.87 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $63.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $61.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $55.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.59. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $55.12 and a 52-week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.70 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 15.62% and a return on equity of 17.50%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.09 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.88 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on OXY. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $71.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 24th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $84.00 to $69.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.56.

Insider Activity

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 1,386,844 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.67 per share, with a total value of $82,752,981.48. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 250,583,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,952,323,710.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased a total of 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.