Korea Investment CORP Buys 219,504 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 46.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 696,520 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 219,504 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP owned 0.07% of Occidental Petroleum worth $34,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of OXY opened at $48.84 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. The company’s fifty day moving average is $48.28 and its 200 day moving average is $49.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.02 and a beta of 1.51.

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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. Sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.97%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OXY has been the topic of a number of research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group upped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the purchase, the insider now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.