Cooke & Bieler LP Has $146.18 Million Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Cooke & Bieler LP grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after buying an additional 377,952 shares during the period. Occidental Petroleum makes up 1.4% of Cooke & Bieler LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Cooke & Bieler LP’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $146,184,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at about $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY stock opened at $47.35 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $44.70 and a 52-week high of $71.18. The stock has a market cap of $44.44 billion, a PE ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.51. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $49.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.58.

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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.24 dividend. 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. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

OXY has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wolfe Research upped their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost 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. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.