VSM Wealth Advisory LLC Buys New Stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

VSM Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 549 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Howard Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,234 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. Empire Financial Management Company LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Empire Financial Management Company LLC now owns 6,383 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 8,058 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 11,208 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $554,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $47.99 on Friday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 12-month low of $44.70 and a 12-month high of $71.19. The company has a market cap of $45.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.67 and a beta of 1.51. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.11.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Insider Activity

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought 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 approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on OXY shares. Mizuho reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.45.

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.