Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Position Trimmed by Avantax Advisory Services Inc.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. trimmed its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 8.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 23,205 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,255 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $68,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OXY has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.7 %

OXY stock opened at $47.96 on Thursday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19. 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 company has a market cap of $45.01 billion, a PE ratio of 19.66 and a beta of 1.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $48.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.12.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion for 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%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Company 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.