Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Ieq Capital LLC

Ieq Capital LLC decreased its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 15.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,758 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 6,658 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,767,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 71,100 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $3,513,000 after purchasing an additional 19,585 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 9,031 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. Keene & Associates Inc. now owns 10,389 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 740,970 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $36,611,000 after acquiring an additional 13,633 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callahan Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth about $400,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on OXY. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wolfe Research increased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of OXY stock opened at $50.42 on Monday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $45.17 and a 12-month 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 firm has a fifty day moving average of $49.20 and a 200-day moving average of $51.34. The company has a market capitalization of $47.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 research analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.90%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 2,477,362 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.25 per share, with a total value of $114,577,992.50. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 257,758,886 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,921,348,477.50. The trade was a 0.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders have purchased 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532. Insiders own 0.31% 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.