Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 70,000 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Corporation $OXY

Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) by 65.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,250 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 70,000 shares during the period. Schwartz Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $2,356,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,602,660 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $436,008,000 after buying an additional 1,883,721 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 54.3% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,959,638 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $162,820,000 after purchasing an additional 1,393,638 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1,029.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,493,747 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $70,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,541 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,730,847 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $276,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 134.3% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,821 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $85,798,000 after purchasing an additional 1,040,941 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Richard A. Jackson acquired 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $52.38 per share, for a total transaction of $249,852.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,261,853.24. This trade represents a 1.09% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $74.00 to $68.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore upgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.48.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $54.80 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Occidental Petroleum Corporation has a 12-month low of $38.80 and a 12-month high of $67.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $54.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $52.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.51 billion, a PE ratio of 13.80 and a beta of 0.15.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The firm had revenue of $5.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.14 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Corporation will post 5.93 EPS for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be issued a $0.26 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

Occidental Petroleum Profile

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.