Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires 5,290 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 98.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,680 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,290 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $528,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in OXY. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the period. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,046,535,678.40. The trade was a 1.39 % 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. Insiders bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of OXY opened at $46.28 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1 year low of $44.70 and a 1 year high of $71.18. The stock has a market cap of $43.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.97 and a beta of 1.51. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $49.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.50.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. On average, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.07%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on OXY shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.86.

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.