Candriam S.C.A. Has $2.18 Million Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,056 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 1,115 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 124.5% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 18,481 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 10,248 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 52.5% during the 3rd quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,143 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $265,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 773,762 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $39,880,000 after buying an additional 51,042 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 8,116 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $323,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have assigned 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 a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.50.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY stock opened at $47.26 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.27 and a 200-day moving average of $50.64. The firm has a market cap of $44.35 billion, a PE ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $44.70 and a 12-month 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

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.