MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $8.84 Million Stock Holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 178,908 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,943 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $8,840,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth approximately $14,199,000. Benchmark Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $642,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $39.03 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.68 billion, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.02. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $68.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.43.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.46%. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on OXY. UBS Group dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $44.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. TD Cowen cut Occidental Petroleum from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.33.

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.