Uniting Wealth Partners LLC Buys Shares of 10,150 Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY)

Uniting Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 10,150 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in OXY. Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum during the 3rd quarter worth about $376,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum during the third quarter worth about $206,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Occidental Petroleum by 49.4% during the third quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 5,591 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,848 shares during the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 50.2% during the 3rd quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 22,134 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,141,000 after purchasing an additional 7,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 33,373 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,720,000 after purchasing an additional 831 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $56.00 to $51.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered 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 assigned a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.82.

Insider Buying and Selling at Occidental Petroleum

In related news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought 763,017 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $46.82 per share, with a total value 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 $12,404,557,799.42. The trade was a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OXY opened at $49.34 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $48.18 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.37 billion, a PE ratio of 20.22 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.95 and a quick ratio of 0.76. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $44.70 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.80 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.14 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.24 per share. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is currently 39.34%.

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.