Sowell Financial Services LLC Reduces Stock Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Sowell Financial Services LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 17,864 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,764 shares during the quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators increased its position in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% during the fourth quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after acquiring an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders bought 6,854,394 shares of company stock valued at $315,101,532 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $77.00 to $65.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.86.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Up 0.2 %

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $47.35 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.18. The business has a fifty day moving average of $49.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.58. The firm has a market cap of $44.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.41 and a beta of 1.51. 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 (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company 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, analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is 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.