Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 23.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 361,329 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 113,163 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $17,853,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on OXY shares. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho decreased their price target 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. StockNews.com downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $49.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $46.49 billion, a PE ratio of 20.28 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The business’s fifty day moving average is $48.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $49.91.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.94%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was acquired 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate 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.