Snider Financial Group Buys Shares of 7,885 Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Snider Financial Group acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,885 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth about $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY opened at $46.60 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $49.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.86. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a one year low of $45.17 and a one year high of $71.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.10 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 is a boost 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 2.06%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on OXY. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Friday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 3,614,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.60 per share, with a total value of $164,799,084.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,178,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This represents a 1.39 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders acquired a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.