Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lessened its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 8.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,205 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,255 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares in the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $68,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $47.96 on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a 50 day moving average of $48.74 and a 200-day moving average of $50.12.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on OXY shares. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Three research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.45.

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.