Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $2.29 Million Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 46,270 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 638 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $2,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Leavell Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,241 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $323,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the third quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the third quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 27,566 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 16.9% during the third quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of 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, Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $50.42 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $49.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $45.17 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55.

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. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

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.