Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

by · The Cerbat Gem

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY – Free Report) by 70.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 122,750 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 296,000 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $5,800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. City Holding Co. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 250.0% in the third quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,193.9% during the second quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 854 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 371.7% in the 2nd quarter. MeadowBrook Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,000 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, Director William R. Klesse acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $38.98 per share, for a total transaction of $194,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 218,913 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,533,228.74. This trade represents a 2.34% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. HSBC dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $55.00 to $54.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Roth Capital upped their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $49.43.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $42.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $41.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.11 billion, a PE ratio of 31.43 and a beta of 0.38. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 52-week low of $34.78 and a 52-week high of $52.58.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, November 10th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.16. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 12.35%. The firm had revenue of $6.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.66 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 10th were paid a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 70.59%.

About Occidental Petroleum

(Free Report)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.

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