Millstone Evans Group LLC Takes Position in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 842 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $42,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Atala Financial Inc acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the third quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 248 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a research report on Friday, February 21st. StockNews.com cut Occidental Petroleum from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.45.

Occidental Petroleum Stock Performance

OXY opened at $47.91 on Tuesday. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a twelve month low of $44.70 and a twelve month high of $71.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $44.97 billion, a PE ratio of 19.64 and a beta of 1.51. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $48.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $49.93.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.67 by $0.13. Occidental Petroleum had a return on equity of 16.33% and a net margin of 11.37%. The business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is a boost from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 39.34%.

Insider Activity at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum 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 purchased at an average cost of $46.82 per share, for a total transaction of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.31% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.