Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Holdings Boosted by Wedbush Securities Inc.

Wedbush Securities Inc. grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 10.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,321 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,712 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $905,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, M Holdings Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the acquisition, the insider now 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Down 7.4 %

OXY opened at $40.65 on Monday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 1-year low of $38.15 and a 1-year high of $71.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $47.88 and a 200-day moving average of $49.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.24 dividend. 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 2.36%. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.34%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on OXY. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a report on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial lifted 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

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.