Private Advisor Group LLC Trims Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 68,302 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 13,385 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $3,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at about $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 15,079 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $777,000 after purchasing an additional 10,382 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 990,521 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $48,942,000 after purchasing an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,509,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity 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 that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.25 per share, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders bought a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 in the last three months. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $56.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $61.55.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $50.42 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $49.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $51.34. The firm has a market cap of $47.31 billion, a PE ratio of 20.66 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52-week low of $45.17 and a 52-week high of $71.18.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 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 the consensus estimate 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 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.90%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 39.34%.

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.