Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 23,898 Shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Independent Advisor Alliance trimmed its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 25,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 23,898 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth 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. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. 0.48% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $46.58 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $48.95 and its 200 day moving average is $50.36. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $44.70 and a 12-month high of $71.18. The stock has a market cap of $43.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.09 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.06%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.68.

About Occidental Petroleum

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.