WR Wealth Planners LLC Lowers Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

WR Wealth Planners LLC cut its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 52.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,938 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,116 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $476,000. Rule One Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $14,199,000. Stephens Inc. AR increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 221.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $48,942,000 after acquiring an additional 50,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,509,000. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 3,614,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 19th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.60 per share, for a total transaction of $164,799,084.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 264,178,414 shares in the company, valued at $12,046,535,678.40. This trade represents a 1.39 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have purchased a total of 6,854,394 shares of company stock worth $315,101,532 in the last 90 days. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.4 %

OXY opened at $48.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.95. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $45.17 and a fifty-two week high of $71.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $49.46 and its 200 day moving average is $51.06. The stock has a market cap of $45.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.02 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.24 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.97%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on OXY shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $53.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $57.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Occidental Petroleum currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.55.

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.