AlphaQuest LLC Lowers Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

AlphaQuest LLC reduced its stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 87.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,218 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 23,178 shares during the quarter. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $159,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of OXY. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 3rd quarter valued at $50,000. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators grew its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators now owns 1,164 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the period. New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new position in Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at $68,000. 88.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on OXY shares. Roth Capital set a $54.00 price objective on Occidental Petroleum in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 16th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

NYSE:OXY opened at $47.31 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.20. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19. The stock has a market cap of $44.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.