Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Trims Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank cut its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 44.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 340,604 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 274,015 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $16,829,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during 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 last quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 27,566 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE OXY opened at $46.11 on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $44.70 and a 52 week high of $71.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.47. The firm has a market cap of $43.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90 and a beta of 1.51.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. 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 2.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.86.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 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 purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Company insiders own 0.48% of the company’s stock.

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.