Southeast Asset Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 4,208 Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Southeast Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 4,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at $206,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,373 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,720,000 after buying an additional 831 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 103,072 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $5,312,000 after buying an additional 7,882 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 235.1% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 110,705 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,301,000 after acquiring an additional 77,669 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 263.1% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,655 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $652,000 after acquiring an additional 9,170 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $38.70 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $37.67 and a 52 week high of $71.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $36.37 billion, a PE ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $47.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.60.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.48%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the topic of a number of research reports. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.