Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) Shares Sold by Alliancebernstein L.P.

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum Co. (NYSE:OXY) by 65.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 795,347 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock after selling 1,503,129 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Occidental Petroleum worth $39,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 108,232 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $5,348,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares during the last quarter. Inkwell Capital LLC bought a new stake in Occidental Petroleum in the fourth quarter valued at about $860,000. Cove Street Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Occidental Petroleum by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Cove Street Capital LLC now owns 20,969 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,036,000 after buying an additional 7,509 shares during the last quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,821,000. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,485,000. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Occidental Petroleum Trading Down 7.4 %

Shares of Occidental Petroleum stock opened at $40.65 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $47.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $49.71. Occidental Petroleum Co. has a fifty-two week low of $39.60 and a fifty-two week high of $71.19. The firm has a market cap of $38.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 11.37% and a return on equity of 16.33%. The company had revenue of $6.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.14 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Occidental Petroleum Co. will post 3.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Occidental Petroleum Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from Occidental Petroleum’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. Occidental Petroleum’s dividend payout ratio is 39.34%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $71.00 price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Raymond James lowered shares of Occidental Petroleum from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $81.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Occidental Petroleum from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $72.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.82.

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other news, major shareholder Berkshire Hathaway Inc acquired 763,017 shares of Occidental Petroleum stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $46.82 per share, with a total value of $35,724,455.94. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 264,941,431 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,404,557,799.42. This represents a 0.29 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.31% of the company’s stock.

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.