Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Purchases 16,489 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,417,916 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,489 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.79% of Occidental Petroleum worth $366,452,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Atala Financial Inc bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Stephens cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $55.81.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $39.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The stock has a market cap of $37.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.28 and a beta of 1.02. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $34.79 and a 1 year high of $68.43. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.57 and its 200 day moving average is $48.59.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its 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. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were issued a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.