Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Trims Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. lowered its holdings in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 15.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 15,144 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 2,788 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Occidental Petroleum were worth $748,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,846,890 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $710,886,000 after buying an additional 444,850 shares during the period. H&H International Investment LLC grew its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 497.7% in the third quarter. H&H International Investment LLC now owns 9,223,700 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $475,389,000 after purchasing an additional 7,680,598 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Occidental Petroleum by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,236,980 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $209,349,000 after purchasing an additional 229,210 shares during the period. Cooke & Bieler LP boosted its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Cooke & Bieler LP now owns 2,958,596 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $146,184,000 after purchasing an additional 377,952 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 48.7% during the 4th quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 2,461,033 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $121,600,000 after buying an additional 805,525 shares during the period. 88.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $47.31 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a 52 week low of $44.70 and a 52 week high of $71.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $44.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.39 and a beta of 1.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $48.88 and a 200-day moving average of $50.20.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted 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 firm had revenue of $6.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.14 billion. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. On average, analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS 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 issued a $0.24 dividend. This is a positive change from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OXY. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. UBS Group lifted 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. Citigroup decreased their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Occidental Petroleum presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.45.

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.