First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. Purchases 1,865 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,755 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,865 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 75.2% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% in the third quarter. VisionPoint Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,754 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $957,000 after acquiring an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 23,523 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 10,356 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $618,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. now owns 13,180 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $787,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.1 %

Occidental Petroleum stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $62.32. The stock had a trading volume of 4,119,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,619,871. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.83. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $55.12 and a 1-year high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.03 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a current ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.01. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 17.50% and a net margin of 15.62%. The business had revenue of $6.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.09 EPS. Occidental Petroleum’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 10th will be given a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 334,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 17th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $59.75 per share, with a total value of $19,984,044.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 255,281,524 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,253,071,059. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have purchased 4,656,747 shares of company stock valued at $278,664,028 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. Susquehanna raised their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $70.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 28th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $69.00 to $65.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 24th. Scotiabank upgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $63.00 to $90.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $73.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.56.

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.