Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Sells 1,386 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 36,914 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,386 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,824,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $14,199,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $30,320,000 after purchasing an additional 6,461 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $48.11 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.61 and a 200-day moving average of $50.04. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $44.70 and a 1-year 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 company has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.