Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Scotia Capital Inc.

Scotia Capital Inc. lowered its position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 82.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,874 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 45,234 shares during the period. Scotia Capital Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of OXY. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,123,704 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $3,365,992,000 after purchasing an additional 10,434,098 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,245,357 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $701,816,000 after acquiring an additional 398,467 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 25.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 6,357,689 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $314,133,000 after purchasing an additional 1,278,389 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,349,000 after acquiring an additional 229,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cooke & Bieler LP increased its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $146,184,000 after purchasing an additional 377,952 shares during the last quarter. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This trade represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE OXY opened at $37.90 on Tuesday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $46.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.53 and a beta of 1.02. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $34.79 and a 12-month high of $69.44.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 2.53%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on OXY. Mizuho dropped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, December 16th. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Truist Financial upped 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 reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Scotiabank downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “sector outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.71.

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.