Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. lowered its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,662,446 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 258,512 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $180,961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in OXY. H&H International Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $475,389,000 after acquiring an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Scharf Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% in the fourth quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $121,600,000 after acquiring an additional 805,525 shares during the period. Anson Funds Management LP grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3,645.8% during the third quarter. Anson Funds Management LP now owns 765,486 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $39,453,000 after buying an additional 745,050 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares during the period. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP grew its position in Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $146,184,000 after buying an additional 377,952 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, 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 link. 0.31% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 report on Thursday, March 6th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $48.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $48.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.01. 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 company has a market cap of $45.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72 and a beta of 1.51. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

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.