Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,467 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,010 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $777,000 after acquiring an additional 10,382 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 613,647 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $30,320,000 after acquiring an additional 6,461 shares during the period. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 2,477,362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $46.25 per share, with a total value of $114,577,992.50. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 257,758,886 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,921,348,477.50. This trade represents a 0.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders purchased a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OXY. Mizuho decreased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Truist Financial boosted 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. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $80.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 target price on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE:OXY opened at $45.55 on Thursday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $49.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.82. The stock has a market cap of $42.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67 and a beta of 1.55. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $44.70 and a 52-week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) 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 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 expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.24 dividend. 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 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Occidental Petroleum 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.